The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
Ridgewood NJ, Does it ever feel like you’re getting more robocalls than calls from actual humans? Illegal robocalls aren’t just annoying — they’re also often scams. But you might be wondering — how did they get my number in the first place?
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Ridgewood NJ, Two Indian nationals admitted to conspiracy to commit wire fraud by accepting illegally obtained $1.2 million in wire transfers from victims across the country, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced today that New Jersey has entered into a new multistate agreement with 12 phone service providers, securing their commitment to work cooperatively with states to thwart illegal robocalls.
Under the agreement signed by 51 Attorneys General and the 12 participating phone companies, service providers – including AT&T, Comcast, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon – have agreed to adopt eight “Anti-Robocall Principles” for combating illegal robocalls.
Continue reading AG Grewal Announces Agreement with Telecom Companies to Combat Illegal Robocalls
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Wyckoff NJ, , the bipartisan Stop Bad Robocalls Act, cosponsored by U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), passed the House and will head to the Senate for a vote. The bill specifies that consumers should not face additional charges for having robocalls blocked through authentication technology and sets reasonable deadlines for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prescribe regulations to help fight against scammers.
Continue reading Congressman Gottheimer Applauds Passage of Bipartisan Stopping Bad Robocalls Act
January 10,2017
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Ridgewood NJ, If automated telephone calls have been blowing up your phone, you’re not alone. Recent data released by the United States Federal Trade Commission revealed the robocall business is booming, with complaints skyrocketing in 2017.
Four and a half million people filed complaints with the FTC about robocalls over the course of the year—more than one million more than the 3.4 million people who filed such complaints in 2016.
New data from the Federal Trade Commission show that New Jersey residents on the FTC’s Do Not Call list made more complaints, per capita, than any other state about robocalls last year. All told, state residents filed 321,393 complaints, which works out to about 3,600 people out of every 100,000. The next-highest state, Delaware, had 2,900 complaints per 100,000 residents.
Nationally, complaints rose 32% last year, to 4.5 million, and that followed a 60% increase in 2016 and a 22% increase in 2015.
The FTC cites several factors for the increase. Calls can be made cheaply over the Internet from anywhere in the world, and technology makes it easy for someone who does not want to follow the law against calling someone on the Do Not Call list to “spoof” the source of the call.
The former mayor Paul Arosohn used to drive residents crazy with his over use of robocalls.
For blocking the unwanted robocalls , sign up for a third-party app that can help prevent the calls from coming through. A favorite of consumers—and the FTC—is Nomorobo , an app that won the FTC’s Robocall Challenge.
Nomorobo operates by using a feature called “simultaneous ring.” When enabled, simultaneous ring will ring on more than one number at the same time. Nomorobo becomes the first number and uses the simultaneous ring feature to screen the call before it rings on the user’s device.
If the app determines the call is legitimate, it will allow it to move forward. If it’s an illegal robocall, Nomorobo will block it. The user’s phone will still ring once but will stop immediately after, letting them know that Nomorobo stopped the call.
Nomorobo is available for free for personal use on landlines. It is also available for Android and iPhone, though not for free. The mobile version of Nomorobo costs $1.99 per month per device, which may well be worth it if the phone is ringing off the hook with fake calls.
Readers Question Effectiveness of Mayor’s Robocall
Just got the robocall from Village Hall. Could Aronsohn have sounded any less optimisitc? What a doom and gloom message.
No praise for our great police, fire, EMS, and Emergency Services groups and how they are there to help.
Just a very down message about the high chance of losing power and no salt for the roads. I think the Devil himself would have been able to come up with a more upbeat message. Next time let Jeremy or Brian give us the news Mr. Mayor. We’re all tired of hearing your voice anyway.
