Weary of robocalls? New way to report them

The state Attorney General’s Office is offering a new way to report robocalls – an online complaint form that is “specifically designed to assist attorneys and investigators to quickly react to complaints and stop the calls.” Along with that, they’ve also set up a new website “with descriptions of robocalls and telemarketing scams, including strategies for combating them.” Previously, you were only able to use the AG’s general consumer-complaint form to report suspicious calls. The new form is aimed at gathering information that will help state investigators “better track and discover patterns for robocalls in the state — and prevent other Washingtonians from getting more illegal calls.” Next time you get one, here’s the new form. Read up on robocalls (some of which ARE legal) and scams here. And if you want to report non-robocall types of scams/illegal telemarketing, you can do that here. And yes, the state has taken robocallers to court – today’s announcement notes three cases, including one in which a $10 million penalty was ordered.

gebee March 29, 2022 (1:28 pm)

What about all those rude phone calls by Developers and fake Real Estate Agents? Anything to do to stop these?

WSB March 29, 2022 (2:09 pm)

Read the website linked above to see if whatever kind of call you’re getting is against the rules/laws. If it is, report it

onion March 29, 2022 (2:54 pm)

Most of the junk calls I get are from spoofed numbers — or at least I assume they’re spoofed. And I’m not about to call them back to verify whether the number is authentic.

AN March 29, 2022 (3:09 pm)

Why are politicians exempt? I don’t want to hear from them anymore than I want to hear from a scammer!

Delta April 1, 2022 (9:58 pm)

LOL, as though a politician would implement rules that would impact their ability to fundraise.

DAFFY March 29, 2022 (3:44 pm)

Note the required field on the form:

“*What telephone number displayed on your caller ID when you received the call or text?“

Gonna be hard to complete that field if you don’t have caller ID on your landline phone.

anonyme March 29, 2022 (3:58 pm)

There has to be a better way to stop this. Having to report violations does nothing to actually help consumers, it just places even more burden on them. Nor should consumers have to pay extra for apps like RoboKiller in order to stop the illegal use of services they already pay for. It’s to the point where I can’t even answer my own phone on the rare occasion I need to because it’s almost always a phishing call. Soon as you pick up, they gotcha. Like, forever.

Jort March 29, 2022 (4:34 pm)

There is a better way to stop this, it would just involve significant investments from telecommunications companies and they aren’t going to do that unless they are instructed to do so through regulation.
- anonyme March 29, 2022 (4:47 pm)
  
  No argument there. Greed rules, as usual.

Ivan Weiss March 29, 2022 (5:24 pm)

When I was a kid, I was taught it was bad manners not to answer the phone. Times have changed. Now I just let all calls go to voicemail, landline and cell. Nine out of ten calls are either robocalls or telemarketers anyway. If someone needs to reach me, they can leave a voicemail, and if it’s legit, I’ll respond right away. Otherwise the hell with them. I haven’t talked to a scammer or a telemarketer in years, nor have I picked up for a robocall. To be sure, I had to adapt, but having done so, these calls don’t bother me anymore.

anonyme March 30, 2022 (6:51 am)

Right after reading this article, I got a robocall voicemail in Chinese. Not the first one.

bolo March 30, 2022 (11:33 am)

I’ve noticed a definite uptick in robocalls and “Scam Likely” calls over the past 3-4 weeks. Anybody else notice similar?

WSB March 30, 2022 (12:37 pm)

::raises hand::

anonyme March 31, 2022 (6:54 am)

What happens to the $ten million once/if it’s actually collected? Does a penny of it go to the victims of the robocalls? The only other logical application would be toward prevention. It seems like everyone in the state could be provided with RoboKiller or similar software at that price…

Sorry, comment time is over.