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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsYes, It's Bad. Robocalls, and Their Scams, Are Surging.
By Tara Siegel Bernard
May 6, 2018
Its not just you.
Those pesky robocalls at best annoying disturbances and at worst costly financial scams are getting worse.
In an age when cellphones have become extensions of our bodies, robocallers now follow people wherever they go, disrupting business meetings, church services and bedtime stories with their children.
Though automated calls have long plagued consumers, the volume has skyrocketed in recent years, reaching an estimated 3.4 billion in April, according to YouMail, which collects and analyzes calls through its robocall blocking service. Thats an increase of almost 900 million a month compared with a year ago.
Federal lawmakers have noticed the surge. Both the House and Senate held hearings on the issue within the last two weeks, and each chamber has either passed or introduced legislation aimed at curbing abuses. Federal regulators have also noticed, issuing new rules in November that give phone companies the authority to block certain robocalls.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/06/your-money/robocalls-rise-illegal.html
dalton99a
(81,455 posts)CrispyQ
(36,460 posts)or someone with my name down in Texas & to call "this number" immediately. Here's what I did:
But the message did sound "official." And slightly alarming. If you had any kind of questionable history with the law, it might freak you out a bit.
Ernesto
(5,077 posts)For private citizens!
GoCubsGo
(32,080 posts)A lot of people, especially the elderly, likely don't even know that their provider even offers those call block services, so a bunch are not even being detected.
superpatriotman
(6,247 posts)Why not?
hunter
(38,311 posts)There's probably some database scammers can subscribe to, keeping records of calls answered. The multi-level-marketing scammers seem to have a similar database. It's best not to engage them in any way.
Automation filled my mailbox with crap and now it's polluted my phones. Nine calls out of ten are garbage.
cagefreesoylentgreen
(838 posts)I had a really creepy one I woke up to a few weeks ago.
I had a really good time tonight. Next time how about my place?
Didnt recognize the number and sure as hell had not gone anywhere the previous evening. I couldnt hit block caller fast enough. Ugh, I feel grossed out just typing that.