Help Stop Annoying Robocalls

Robocalls are automated phone calls with prerecorded messages. These calls have increased in recent years because technology has made it cheap and easy for robocallers to make calls from anywhere in the world while “spoofing” their identities to display fake Caller ID information.

The technologies being used now are often so smart that robocallers can make their number appear to be local or even from a legitimate business you’ve used.

There are laws that legitimate businesses follow to send messages out all over the world, but obviously there are people and groups around the globe that don’t care about U.S. laws.  They usually call for private info such as social security numbers and bank accounts, or cash, with the hopes they’ll trick you into giving it away.

How to avoid them:
– Sign up for the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Do Not Call Registry at www.donotcall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222. It’s illegal for telemarketers to call you if you’re on it, though plenty still do.

– Sign up for the FTC’s Scam Alerts at www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/scam-alerts.  This will help you know about current robocalls and scams that have been reported to the FTC.

If you follow the steps above, you should receive fewer robocalls. If you still get them, you should file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.donotcall.gov/report.  Doing so can help the FTC detect patterns and potentially stop whoever’s sending those calls in the first place.