FCC $5 Million Fine

[TheBigA]

The FCC fines a conservative group $5 million for unwanted election robocalls:

FCC looks to fine conservative activists $5 million for false mail voting robocalls

The calls lied about mail voting in the run-up to the 2020 election.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[DavidEduardo]

The FCC fines a conservative group $5 million for unwanted election robocalls:

Now if they could just stop the "your car warranty has expired" robocallers.

While election fraud is a much greater offense, invasion of privacy with fraudulent offers is also abusive.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Now if they could just stop the "your car warranty has expired" robocallers.

While election fraud is a much greater offense, invasion of privacy with fraudulent offers is also abusive.

Agreed. I remember congress held hearings a few years back about robocalls and telemarketers, but I'm not sure what if anything ever came from them (maybe the cell companies doing a bit better job marking potential SPAM calls as such before one picks up?)

Moving this thread a bit off the original subject...

A few years back. I started getting calls and texts from an auto dealership I'd patronized, interrupting my days, making offers to buy my car back and get me into a new vehicle. My car was only about 2 years old at that point, well under warranty and I had no interest at all in trading it. I kept telling them repeatedly to remove me, but they persisted. When they started this crap on holidays like Memorial Day and Labor Day, texting me and calling me when I was with friends for cookouts, telling me to get to the dealership for significant savings, I finally contacted the owner of the dealership and told him if the calls and texts didn't stop (as I'd requested they be several times) he'd lose my business, and business from immediate family who also patronized his dealership. They stopped immediately.

I also stopped giving to one of my local PBS stations a few years ago (I still give to one other PBS station and to NPR). While I never minded getting their letters and e-mails asking for additional $$ as I could discard them if I wished, one week I got calls 3 days in a row from the same number, interrupting my dinner with family each evening. I finally picked up on the 3rd day and it was a telemarketing firm, hired by said PBS station, asking me for $$ and another donation. I asked to be removed from their call list, then wrote an e-mail directly to the folks at the PBS station, copying everyone I could think off at that facility, explaining they'd never receive another donation from me, and explaining why.

 

[landtuna]

Another way to deal with robocalls (reprinted from earlier post):

"I think I found a better way. I switched my phone company landline to an VOIP (voice over internet protocol) service. My monthly bill dropped from $30+ to just over $6 per month but that's not the best part. I used to get many scam calls every day on my old landline. Since the switch I get very few. The VOIP service (which is called VOIPO) has it's own database of scammers and I can add more from my personal experience. I now get perhaps 2-3 per month as opposed to 10-12 per day. Silence is golden!"

Something new has popped up recently though. I've recently received several robocalls that were automatically answered by my VOIP answering machine without me physically picking up the call. I'm unsure how that happens because my answering machine (my own physical device) is set to bypass all incoming calls except those in an internal directory. More investigation required. Fortunately it does not happen but very infrequently.