Robocalls affect any person who possesses a telephone. Yet, most media somehow ignore the big and growing problem that irks millions of Americans, notes Grumpy Editor.
About 26.3 billion robocalls were directed at Americans last year, up 46 percent from 2017.
While people can register with the National Do Not Call Registry, illegal robocalls --- many from foreign locations --- grow like a fungus. It's not unusual for some people to receive 10 or more robocalls a day, the largest source of consumer complaints to the Federal Trade Commission.
The May issue of Consumer Reports terms robocalls "epidemic."
CR mentions "the telecom industry has promised to roll out new technology that, though not stopping robocalls on its own, would identify calls as potentially fraudulent so that consumers can decide whether to answer."
Grumpy Editor finds it interesting that when some nabbed robocallers go to court, they get off easy.
Examples CR cites: One outfit that blasted millions of unlawful robocalls was ordered to pay $2.2 million. But the Federal Trade Commission suspended that judgment upon payment of $65,000 --- based on inability to pay. Another operation that engineered billions of illegal robocalls was ordered to pay $2.7 million by the FTC, growing to $9.9 million when factoring in other people in the scheme. But this was cut to $510,000 because of inability to pay.
There may be hope ahead.
Introduced in Congress in January is a bill called Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act. It would make robocall fines bigger and easier for the Federal Communications Commission to obtain.
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