The epidemic of phone scammers (and robocalls in general) has long been a thorn in the side of innumerable unsuspecting victims (“New convincing phone scammers posing as Baltimore County Sheriff’s deputies,” Sept. 15).
Callers use phrases like “Do you have any pain in your body” or “You’re eligible for…” or “Can I speak to the homeowner?” Others use official-sounding pitches like “Our records show…” or “I’m calling from Social Security.” They all seek to get people to buy things that they don’t need or can’t afford or to support causes (with the majority of donations going to them).
The law states that auto-dialers are illegal and that unless you’ve given explicit permission to be called, they are committing an unlawful invasion of privacy. And calls in which a phone number has been “spoofed” (used without the individual’s permission) are clearly fraudulent.
Consumer behavior has been so influenced that few people answer the phone if they do not recognize the number or there is no caller ID. So why hasn’t the FCC or some other governmental authority made progress in halting such schemes?
Why aren’t there consequences for these enterprises that begin with a lie? Surely the technology exists. Perhaps the motivation to fix the problem does not.
Without a collective effort on our part to register our unhappiness with the status quo, nothing is going to change. Maybe we can find a way to begin a national campaign or a petition to kick off an initiative such as this.
— Neil Rauch, Pikesville