Robocaller Hit With Record $120 Million Fine

DooKey

DooKey

[H]F Junkie
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The FCC just issued its largest robocalling fine ever for a robocaller (WARNING autoplay video) from Florida. He is charged with making almost 100 million robocalls over a three month period using spoofed caller ID. According to the FCC he duped a large number of elderly people into purchasing bogus travel deals. I hate to hear about people taking advantage of old folks and I hope this fine puts the robocaller in the poor house. However, this is just a drop in the bucket of total robocalls and the FCC needs to keep up the good work and get more of these scumbags off our phones. Thanks cageymaru.

"There is available open-source software that can be misused by someone to make thousands of automated phone calls with the click of a button," Abramovich told the Senate in April. "There are websites right now. ... that offer volume pricing for using their robocalling system that can handle millions of calls."
 
I’m sure his companies that they fined were registered in some off shore company of which this guy was only an employee of. So the companies will declare bankruptcy the fine will never be paid meanwhile they will register themselves under a new name and start again as the actual call center pitching this is likely in the Philippines or India.
 
If I don't recognize the number, I Don't Answer.
If it's not important enough to leave a message...
You'd be surprised how hard it is to drill that simple trick into seniors (and the folks who let some cold calling rando get on their computer because it's "infected")
 
Jim Kim said:
If I don't recognize the number, I Don't Answer.
If it's not important enough to leave a message...
You'd be surprised how hard it is to drill that simple trick into seniors (and the folks who let some cold calling rando get on their computer because it's "infected")
Click to expand...

Same here.
Our home phone number is on the do-not-call list, yet we average at least 20 calls a week.

I have the phone set to announce any calls that match a phone book entry (for people we know).
If it doesn't match, we don't answer it unless there is a call we are waiting for (like a delivery).
If we notice several calls from the same number, we add it to the blocked list, so it rings once and then hangs up on them. :D
 
I still don't get why Android won't let me block ALL calls unless they are in my contact list. None. I don't want it to ring unless they are in my contacts. I'll deal with telling the caller to leave a message and I'll call them back. I'd be surprised if 1/20 calls I get is one that I want.
 
I get bullshit spoofed calls from the same area code and exchange as my cell phone nearly on the daily. Asking me to renew the warranty of a product I don't even own. Hitting the button to remove your name from their call list does nothing, I've done it a half dozen times. So now I ask to be connected to an operator pretending to want their service, every time, and waste their time and money.
 
I get hit with spoofed calls from my area code constantly. I'll often get a call on my personal cell and then immediately get the same call on my work cell. When I pick up, either there's no one on the line or it's an ad for something.
 
EODetroit said:
I get bullshit spoofed calls from the same area code and exchange as my cell phone nearly on the daily. Asking me to renew the warranty of a product I don't even own. Hitting the button to remove your name from their call list does nothing, I've done it a half dozen times. So now I ask to be connected to an operator pretending to want their service, every time, and waste their time and money.
Click to expand...
They are going one-step further even. Got a call this morning from my wife's number. Didn't show up as her name like it is in my contacts, but I recognized the number and answered it. Robo-Call, from my wife's fucking cell #. This crap is getting ridiculous...
 
I figure the fine is better than the public lynching he'd probably get if his information were to be made public.
 
EODetroit said:
I get bullshit spoofed calls from the same area code and exchange as my cell phone nearly on the daily. Asking me to renew the warranty of a product I don't even own. Hitting the button to remove your name from their call list does nothing, I've done it a half dozen times. So now I ask to be connected to an operator pretending to want their service, every time, and waste their time and money.
Click to expand...


How the fuck do you get an operator? If you can get that far, you can find out what company they are calling on behalf of, then use that info to report them to the FTC for violating the DNC list. I get at least 1 spoofed call a day, and up to like 7 or 8 calls like yesterday.... It's always a fucking recording, and if I hit 0 to try and get a person, it hangs up.

If I could get an operator, I'd say my wife (I'm not married) handles the financials, and ask for a name/callback number so she could call them back. Once you get that data, you let them know they are breaking the law by calling a cell phone on the DNC list, and you are reporting them to the FTC. They will hang up REAL quick, but by then it's too late. I've been trying unsuccessfully to get this info so I can be proactive about it, but have not had any luck.



Or how about we fucking fix callerID so they can't spoof the number, or give phone the ability to do a reverse check to see if it's spoofed and BLOCK it. By block I mean not accept the call at all, not send it to my voicemail. I'm also tired of having my VM box filled up by spam because I didn't answer/hang up on those cock gobblers.
 
In the video associated with this article, a guy was complaining about receiving 7-10 robocalls a week. Hell, I would be happy with that. I get that many a day! Like most, I don't even answer any call I don't recognize.

I get enough calls to start seeing a pattern. These guys work primarily Monday thru Friday. They must get new contracts each month, because the calls are always more frequent the first week or so of each month.

Last year I tried filling out the complaint forms on the website for the Do Not Call List. I immediately saw an INCREASE in the number of calls daily. I am sure this is a mere coincidence (yeah right!!).

I would write more, but the IRS is on the phone about the cops coming to arrest me. Got to RUN!
 
Monk0101 said:
In the video associated with this article, a guy was complaining about receiving 7-10 robocalls a week. Hell, I would be happy with that. I get that many a day! Like most, I don't even answer any call I don't recognize.

I get enough calls to start seeing a pattern. These guys work primarily Monday thru Friday. They must get new contracts each month, because the calls are always more frequent the first week or so of each month.
Click to expand...
Me and a guy at work were just saying the same thing. Monday thru Friday about 7:30 to 5. Never on the weekends lol.
 
Monk0101 said:
In the video associated with this article, a guy was complaining about receiving 7-10 robocalls a week. Hell, I would be happy with that. I get that many a day! Like most, I don't even answer any call I don't recognize.

I get enough calls to start seeing a pattern. These guys work primarily Monday thru Friday. They must get new contracts each month, because the calls are always more frequent the first week or so of each month.

Last year I tried filling out the complaint forms on the website for the Do Not Call List. I immediately saw an INCREASE in the number of calls daily. I am sure this is a mere coincidence (yeah right!!).

I would write more, but the IRS is on the phone about the cops coming to arrest me. Got to RUN!
Click to expand...


Yup, I'm in the same boat. Just checked and recieved 5 yesterday alone, and 4 so far today.....

I started just picking up the line, muting it and setting my phone down. It's all automated, so it won't typically connect to a person/recording without hearing a activity from your side. Most of the time it disconnects after a few seconds, but at least then I don't also have a VM from them I need to delete.
 
Cmdrmonkey said:
I get hit with spoofed calls from my area code constantly. I'll often get a call on my personal cell and then immediately get the same call on my work cell. When I pick up, either there's no one on the line or it's an ad for something.
Click to expand...
My solution is to block numbers with my area code/prefix. I don't live in the area where I got the number, so it's a safe bet that anyone calling me from that area code is a spoofed number.

Someone spoofed my number and was bothering some guy a month or so ago. The idiot who received the calls then kept calling and texting me and cussed me out when I told him someone spoofed my number. It isn't just old people that are stupid and don't get it...
 
yeah, these crank calls have gotten out of hand.

In the past, I had ATT, and my phone number was unlisted.

I later changed to a phone carrier which didn't have unlisted number feature. I thought that was the reason I was getting so many robocalls.

But then I saw that everyone was complaining about getting an exponential increase in robocalls because the FTC can't do shit about them.
 
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