BBB Tip: How to reduce robocalls
BBB — Missourians and Illinoisans received nearly 236M robocalls in February 2024. Better Business Bureau® (BBB®) has tips for consumers to prevent unwanted and illegal robocalls.
Read more or hear from Better Business Bureau Regional Director Pamela Hernandez below:
If you answer the phone and hear a recorded message instead of a live person, it’s a robocall. Robocalls use a computerized auto-dialer to deliver a pre-recorded message.
Some pre-recorded calls are legal. Informational messages, like a reminder from your doctor’s office, bank or telephone carrier, are allowed. Candidates running for office and charities asking for donations may also make legal robocalls.
However, many scams use illegal robocalls. Any robocall trying to sell you something is illegal unless the company has received your written permission to contact you that way.
“A pre-recorded sales pitch is an immediate red flag,” said Michelle L. Corey, BBB St. Louis president and CEO. “BBB advises consumers to hang up without pressing any other buttons or speaking to the caller.”
Robocalls are cheap and easy for scammers to make from virtually anywhere in the world. Some of the most common robocall scams reported to BBB involve bogus companies claiming to lower utility bills or credit card rates, fake government grants, vacation packages and IRS impersonators.
One St. Louis consumer reported receiving a call in February 2023 from an area code where she has a family member with health issues. She called the number back to verify if it was related to her family member. The consumer heard a recording stating that she had reached the customer service line of a health and wellness product, and that she could press a button to remove her number from their call list. Suspecting it was a scam, she hung up.
AI may soon play a role in making scam robocalls more convincing. AI-generated voices have already been used in a twist on “grandparent scams,” to convince victims that a loved one is in trouble and needs money urgently. Earlier this year, the FCC declared the use of AI-generated voices in scam robocalls to be illegal.
How to avoid scams and reduce unwanted robocalls:
- Hang up. If you pick up the phone and get a recorded sales pitch, hang up. The call is illegal. Don’t speak to the caller or press a button to supposedly remove your name from a list, as that could result in even more calls.
- Screen calls. Avoid answering the phone for people you don’t know. Don’t trust caller ID – it can be faked, and your cell provider might not always flag scam calls.
- Block robocalls. Many cell providers offer call-blocking technologies that can help prevent robocalls. Contact your provider to ask about your options. You can also use robocall blocking apps.
- Register with the Do Not Call list. You can register your phone number with the FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry to reduce the number of unwanted calls you receive.
- Protect your personal information. Before you give your phone number to a new website or company, research it at BBB.org to see if other customers have submitted complaints.
- Report illegal calls. Help BBB and other organizations fight illegal robocalls by reporting them.