Robocalls are exploiting legal gray areas in telemarketing rules to target consumers with fake charity pitches, lost-pet alerts, and bogus public-safety messages. Scammers use caller ID spoofing and phishing tactics to make calls seem legitimate. A privacy attorney and McAfee security consultant discuss the risks and proposed legislation to address the problem.
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Robocalls can do a lot of damage. How robocalls could be used to threaten your family.
The potential for abuse for these services is extreme.
Tonight on Fox 25 News at 10.
You don't recognize the caller ID, but you pick up the phone anywhere, there's a slight delay and you absolutely know what it is. You hear it, that recorded voice either trying to sell you or tell you something.
That new technology is making it easier for just about anyone to robocall. Here's Fox 25's Ted Daniel with why that has some privacy experts concerned. A charity seeking donations. Some voters are talking about recalling him from office. A candidate looking for votes. This is a lost pet alert from your neighbor Vanessa. She lost her dog Toto on November 5th. Even an Amber Alert for a missing pet. These are all examples of informational robocalls. Keyword informational. We found as long as the pre-recorded voice isn't trying to sell you something, the calls are not covered under the strict federal Federal Telemarketing Rules and the Do Not Call Registry doesn't apply.
You don't need prior written permission from the— to receive those calls.
Heather Egan Sussman is a privacy attorney in the Boston office of McDermott, Will Emery. If you haven't got one of these calls yet, just wait. You probably will.
There is a gray area because what we've seen in the last few years is an emergence of companies who are for hire able to send out these kinds of prerecorded telephone calls.
Google robocall and you'll find them. Dozens of companies that will send out your pre-recorded messages to as little or as many people as you want. Some require the customer to provide the phone numbers they wish to target. Others sell lists. It all depends on how much money you want to spend. Please enter your message recording ID followed by the pound key. Using one of the online services, I entered a few numbers to call and recorded a message. Through an automated system. I'm just trying to see if I can say basically anything I want to on a robocall message. Seconds later, the numbers I picked rang with my message. I'm just trying to see if I can say basically anything I want to.
The potential for abuse for these services is extreme.
Robert Siciliano is a Boston-based security and privacy consultant for McAfee. He says there are benefits but also risks as robocalling becomes easier and cheaper for the average person to use from the comfort of their home. A jilted lover can dial up a nasty message about an ex and blast it all over town. A person can send out a bogus public safety warning, causing chaos. Crooks can even phish for confidential financial information.
So I received a robocall from a local bank. I received one both on my office line and my mobile phone, asking me to update my MasterCard information because the card had been locked. Chances are that somebody entered their MasterCard number if they had an account with that particular bank.
And keep in mind, the caller ID might just look legit.
One of the things that makes the robocall so nefarious is that it also works in coordination with caller ID spoofing, which essentially is when you can plug in any phone number to make it look like that's where you're calling from.
Many robocalls are important and may actually contain information, like news about an upcoming storm.— or a school cancellation. But keep in mind, these calls can come from anyone and anywhere. And just because it sounds important or urgent, that doesn't mean it always is. I'm Ted Daniel, FOX 25 News. And Ted tells us robocallers are not allowed to contact cell phones unless they have permission.
However, a Nebraska congressman recently introduced a bill in Congress that would permit informational robocalls to cell phones. That bill is currently being debated on Capitol Hill.
