New York City

Schumer urges phone companies to block annoying robocalls

Preferred method of scammers, telemarketers

March 7, 2016 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Police were most often summoned to Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick for 311 complaints. Eagle file photo by Mary Frost
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It’s gotten to the point where some people are reluctant to answer their phones.

Despite the federal “Do Not Call” registry, millions of people continue to be harassed by annoying telemarketing robocalls.

On Monday, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said this “Game of Phones” has to stop.

“Whether its mortgage companies, credit card firms or, even worse, scammers, telephone companies should provide their customers with access to robocall-blocking technology that will eliminate future nuisance,” Schumer said in a statement.

He added, “We have the technology to block these robocalls and it’s time for telephone and mobile phone companies to make it available to all consumers.”‎

Robocalls are phone calls that use automated dialing machines to play a pre-recorded message or connect to a live person. Many times, these calls are placed using “caller ID spoofing,” which incorrectly displays the caller as a government agency, credit card company or bank.

Besides being annoying, Schumer said that robocalls are often a tool of scammers. He wants the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to put pressure on carriers to implement robocall-blocking technology and said today that if they don’t he would consider legislation.

The FTC says they’ve seen a significant increase in the number of illegal robocalls because internet-powered phone systems have made it cheap and easy for scammers to make illegal calls from anywhere in the world.

The FTC says they are leading several initiatives to develop technology to fight the robocalls, including sponsoring a series of robocall contests “that challenge tech gurus to design tools that block robocalls and help investigators track down and stop robocallers.”

According to the Consumers Union, a division of Consumer Reports, robocall ploys cost consumers $350 million a year. A recent robocall tax scam threatened people, including some New Yorkers, by telling victims that they owed money to the IRS. 

According to the FTC, there were 3.57 million complaints about Do Not Call violations in 2015, up from 3.2 million in FY 2014.

As a result of complaints to the FTC, Time Warner Cable Inc. announced that it would provide its customers with access to Nomorobo, a third-party robocall- blocking service for those with Internet-based service or Voice over Internet Protocol.

Schumer said that this type of technology works much like an email spam box. It would not work with traditional analog landlines, however.

“Over half a million Americans have joined Consumers Union’s End Robocalls campaign calling on AT&T, Verizon, and CenturyLink to offer free call-blocking tools to stop unwanted calls,” Chuck Bell, programs director for Consumers Union, said in a statement.   

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