Robocalls Gone Wrong | Federal Trade Commission

******************************
Transcript:
If you have a telephone, it probably seems like illegal robo calls are out of control. I'm Kati Daffan, an attorney at the Federal Trade Commission. If you pick up the phone, and hear a recorded message instead of a live person, that's a robocall.

Consumers are getting more and more robo calls, and they are not happy about it. As the number of calls has multiplied, the number of complaints has, too. The reason for the spike in robo calls has to do with technology. Companies are using auto dialers, that can send out thousands of phone calls every minute, for an incredibly low cost.

What's important is that the companies that use this technology don't bother to screen for the numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. If a company doesn't care about obeying the law, you can be sure they're trying to scam you. You've probably gotten robo calls about candidates running for office, or charities asking for donations. These robo calls are allowed. But any robo call that's trying to sell you something probably is illegal, unless you've given your written permission to get calls from that company.

The FTC has stopped billions, yes billions, of robo calls in the last two years. Tracing these calls is a tough job, and there are a few reasons for that. One, is that many different companies use the same, or very similar, recorded messages. Another, is that they fake the caller ID information that you see on your phone. That's called caller ID spoofing, and new technology makes it very easy to do. And the third, is that the robo callers often place the calls through internet technology, that hides their location.

******************************

The Federal Trade Commission deals with issues that touch the economic life of every American. It is the only federal agency with both consumer protection and competition jurisdiction in broad sectors of the economy. The FTC pursues vigorous and effective law enforcement; advances consumers' interests by sharing its expertise with federal and state legislatures and U.S. and international government agencies; develops policy and research tools through hearings, workshops, and conferences; and creates practical and plain-language educational programs for consumers and businesses in a global marketplace with constantly changing technologies.

Comment Moderation Policy
We welcome your comments and thoughts about the information on this page. If you do have something to say, please be courteous and respectful to other commenters. We won't routinely review or edit any comments before they are posted, but we will delete any comments that:
1) contain spam or are off-topic
2) use vulgar language or offensive terms that target specific groups or contain personal attacks
3) are sales pitches, promotions, urls or links to commercial sites
4) spread clearly misleading or false information
or
5) include personal information, like home addresses

[CadetGriffin]

Some people are lazy, as they get lazier, they get too lazy to reach the phone, so they leave recorded messages. I've only heard of 'robocalls' about the recipient being out of service. Sometimes some people embrace greed and get into sloth.

[SagemeditationPage]

By "technology" I assume you mean software. Why doesn't the FTC create some of this software and ad tracing technology to it or a marker that is easy to find. Then send it out on the Internet. When companies start using the software you will be able to trace them and catch them. Just a thought.

[apr]

on cellular phones just blast the ip addresses on the phones

[veilsideride]

These people who do this are a nightmare and extremely annoying when your trying to work, I get called daily. a lot of the time they use your area code and next three digits of your phone number. if anyone sees that happening with your phone, there's a good chance they are spoofing calls. Report it to the FTC or FCC.That way we can put a permanent end to this problem collectively as a society. The government needs to also employment laws for jobs boards as well, as job scammers sit on those and take peoples information.

[ciscogomezify]

First of all who created the robocalls?