We like technology, too, most of the time.
For many their cellphones are the first point of reference in any discussion about telecommunications.
Simply put: Most people cannot live without them while the rest look at them as a necessary evil.
But one aspect of cellphones and land lines that we could all live without are robocalls.
Politicians use them year-round but especially around election time. Charities use them, too, to solicit donations.
And clearly there are robocalls that benefit us, such as school closings, medical notifications and bank fraud warnings.
Yet the most common robocalls are from scammers who use this technology for the worst of reasons — to separate people from their money.
In recent years such scoundrels have become more and more sophisticated with originating numbers masked so it looks to be from a local person, referred to as spoofing.
When you answer, it may be a threat from IRS agents to someone wanting to sell you a home security system.
Not to mention thieves claiming your computer is at risk from a virus or phony debt collectors and any one of 1,000 other scams.
Robocalls exploded in 2018 with nearly 48 billion — yes, billion — made in the U.S., a 56.8 percent increase over the estimated 30.5 billion in 2017.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, West Virginia ranks 38th among states with more than 25,000 complaints. The FTC’s ranking hinges on a measure of how many complaints per 100,000 residents, which topped 1,400.
While unwanted robocalls are sparking high volumes of consumer complaints, they are also sparking increased legislative and regulatory action to fight back.
This month, a key U.S. Senate committee held hearings and voted unanimously for a bipartisan bill to do more to stop scammers from preying on vulnerable people.
The bill is called the TRACED Act (Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence) and aims to fight annoying, illegal and abusive robocalls.
It requires telecommunications companies to adopt call authentication and blocking technology that prevents these calls from reaching consumers in the first place.
The TRACED Act also makes it easier to file civil charges and even criminally prosecute those who intentionally disregard telemarketing regulations.
This legislation is supported by all 50 states’ attorney generals, the FCC and FTC commissioners, industry and consumer groups and this newspaper.
We realize the incredible volume of these calls and that many are made from outside the U.S. mean they’ll never stop.
Nor will many consumer complaints about technology.
But it’s time Congress answered robocalls with a message scammers are not going to want to hear.
Morgantown Area News
'Saturday, December 28, 2024'
