Pretty sure this has been diaried about because the problem is hitting everyone, but I am really having a problem with the constant stream of junk phone calls. Calls offering to extend my car’s warranty are the majority, but I just got a new one telling me my electricity was going to be automatically interrupted within 30 minutes because of an unpaid balance on my bill.
I hung up before they could get to the rest of the extortion part. This is digital terrorism. Phone spam is not getting better — and there’s nothing in sight that offers a solution.
1) Setting up a robocall operation is incredibly cheap and easy.
2) Spammers only need a tiny fraction of calls to go through to make a profit. (5 billion robocalls a month in the U.S. alone in just one month in 2018.)
(There is, of course, a Simpson’s episode about this.)
3) The penalties for nuisance calls are minimal, almost impossible to impose, and legal decisions have left them largely unregulated. And a number of them are coming in from overseas. Plus, regulators are really underfunded compared to the scope of the problem.
4) The phone system — caller ID is not set up to allow phone companies to block calls, and they don’t want to because A) some automated calls are legitimate, and B) they don’t want to get caught trying to do regulation for liability reasons. There’s no simple techno-fix.
The spammer tactics are invidious; caller ID may show a local number, but it’s usually fake. And here’s the thing. I have a family member with current medical issues. I have family members traveling currently. These are phone calls and texts I legitimately need and want to get — but I can’t know ahead of time if the number showing up on the call is one of them.
Planet Money’s Indicator has a 9 minute listen about the problem, from 3-23-21. They say there’s one thing about this issue — almost everyone truly hates it.
The 2021 Triple Whammy
Business Insider has a detailed run-down on the problem (from 3-3-21). The article says this could be a critical year for three reasons.
First, on the technical side, this year will see the full rollout of STIR/SHAKEN, a new system designed to hit robocallers who spoof numbers illegally. This is being rolled out across carriers to mixed efficacy. National carriers developed the program and have the tech to seamlessly roll it out, smaller or regional carriers may have a less elegant implementation, and the fragmented state of the phone system makes any nationwide technical rollout difficult to nail down.
Still, the expectation is that STIR/SHAKEN — which digitally validates the handoff of phone calls and ensures that the caller ID is signed as legit — will have an impact come this summer on reducing the volume of calls that make it to your cell phone.
Second, the unfortunate reality is that as the COVID-19 pandemic abates, spam calls are poised to increase because call centers shut down due to social distancing will re-open.
"When India and Pakistan shut down, you saw an instant decline in robocalls," Quilici said. "When the pandemic recedes, you're going to see more robocalls in general." Call centers that were shuttered will re-open, and a volume of calls that had been at around 75% of peak over the course of the pandemic will get back up to full capacity.
The third item is a biggie: the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on a case that could have huge implications depending on what the ruling decides. What is an autodialer?
Facebook is spending big bucks on this one, as are a number of other companies. Bloomberg notes the definition is critical.
The 1991 federal law [Telephone Consumer Protection Act] bans companies from using an autodialer to call or text consumers without their consent, but circuit courts are split over what technologies can be considered autodialers.
Resolving the issue would help businesses assess when they’re liable for calling and texting customers.
The Second and Ninth Circuits have ruled that many technologies count as autodialers, while the D.C., Third, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits have favored a narrower definition.
The case is Facebook Inc. v. Duguid, U.S., No. 19-511, Supplemental brief filed 7/7/20
The Business Insider article looks at the stakes riding on this decision:
...Facebook, backed by dozens of business groups, and Duguid, who has the support of several consumer advocates and Congressional representatives, are each arguing for a different interpretation of what an Automated Telephone Dialing System is. Facebook's legal team argues that an ATDS, under the law, only calls numbers randomly or sequentially, and as a result their use of a machine to automatically contact phone numbers through a dialing system does not technically count as an ATDS because they're calling from a list. Duguid's argument is the law specifically stipulates consent, which necessitates a list, and as a result the system is still an ATDS.
...Legal wrangling aside, the Supreme Court's ruling will have a direct impact on your cell phone. If Facebook wins, it's a massive boost not only for businesses trying to robocall you, but also for the people who abuse the system. It will grant legal cover to spam calls and spam texts that hasn't existed in decades, consumer advocates say.
"If they win," Saunders said, "what we will have is a tsunami of unwanted texts, because there will be no limit on uninvited texts."
What kind of money is riding on this?
An Insider analysis of Center for Responsive Politics data found that as a whole, the pro-Facebook forces spent a collective $184.7 million on federal lobbying across all issues in 2020, employing a collective 689 unique lobbyists. By comparison, the various consumer groups that signed on to support Duguid's case employed a collective six federal lobbyists in 2020, and spent a grand total of $250,000 across all issues.
Business Insider concludes with some steps people can take to try to ameliorate the problem, but realistically options are limited. Letting a call go to voice mail is one option — but if it’s a legitimate call, it may be impossible to get back to the person making it, especially if they have a phone management system on their end (Press 1 to go on indefinite hold. Press 2 to self-destruct. If you know your party’s extension, so what?). They may have moved on to other calls and can’t/won’t pick up.
The FCC has a much more extensive list of steps to take and things to be warned about.
Unwanted calls –including illegal and spoofed robocalls –are the FCC's top consumer complaint and our top consumer protection priority. These include complaints from consumers whose numbers are being spoofed or whose calls are being mistakenly blocked or labeled as a possible scam call by a robocall blocking app or service. The FCC is committed to doing what we can to protect you from these unwelcome situations and is cracking down on illegal calls in a variety of ways
Here’s a printable version. It has a lot of information and links — worth taking a look, maybe keeping a copy handy, and sharing.
It almost makes you wish for the old days of human switchboard operators…
