robocalls

Stop Sending Regular Text Messages

Thanks to a Federal Communications Commission vote last week, wireless carriers now have more control over your text messages. If that sounds ominous, that’s because it is—so much so that now’s the perfect time to ditch regular ol’ text messaging altogether. Here’s the deal: The FCC’s decision means wireless carriers now have a greater ability…

Tech Policy Victoria Song Dec 21

A New Senate Bill Would Hit Robocallers With Up to a $10,000 Fine for Every Call

Democrats and Republicans can agree on at least one thing: The spam robocall situation has gotten entirely out of hand. Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat, and Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, introduced a bill on Friday that aims to ramp up the penalties on illegal robocalls—and stop them from reaching your phone…

Tech Policy Jennings Brown Nov 16

FCC Tells Phone Companies to Figure Out a Way to Stop the Damn Robocalls by Next Year or Else

The United States Federal Communications Commission is calling upon the top telephone and wireless service providers to create a system to hinder the plague of illegal robocalls that is driving the majority of Americans bonkers. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wrote a letter Monday to the telecommunications chief executives, demanding they provide a response by November…

Tech News Jennings Brown Nov 5

Magic Leap, BDSM-Bots, and Star Trek: Best Gizmodo Stories of the Week

If you’re receiving this message, please be advised that Site Gamma-Iota-Zeta has been compromised. Repeat, Site Gamma-Iota-Zeta has been compromised. This is not a drill. Containment failures detected for the following Class V entities: Magic Leap. A toilet paper roll with a Fitbit on it. BDSM-Bot. The witches from Hocus Pocus. The fossil-fuel industry. Mary…

Tech News Tom McKay Oct 14

35 States Tell the FCC to Get Off Its Ass and Do Something About Spoofed Robocalls

A bipartisan coalition of 35 attorneys general signed a formal request today for the Federal Communications Commission to do something about all the damn spoofing robocalls that have driven us all to basically stop answering our phones ever. Seriously, I just got a spam call as I was writing this. Last November, the FCC created…

Tech Policy Jennings Brown Oct 9

FCC Hangs Blockbuster $37.5 Million Fine Over Robocaller Accused of Spoofing Real Numbers

The FCC has announced its proposal to impose a fine of $37.5 million on a company accused of making robocalls and hiding the calls’ origin behind the real phone numbers of consumers. The agency is attempting to show that it’s cracking down on the out of control robocall industry, but critics say it’s too little,…

Tech Policy Rhett Jones Sep 27

Corporations Are Lobbying to Keep Making Robocalls

The robocall problem is as bad as it has ever been, but if big corporations have their way, it just might get worse. The Washington Post reported this week that top businesses from the financial services and retail industry, among others, are lobbying the Trump administration to make it easier to send calls and texts…

Tech News AJ Dellinger Jul 15

FTC Accuses Group of Running Empire That Made Billions of Unwanted Robocalls

The Federal Trade Commission has strict rules that, in its own words, make “virtually all” telemarketing robocalls illegal. But we’ve still seen the number of complaints about robocalls explode over the last few years. On Tuesday, the FTC announced it’s doing something about it by suing some kingpins who allegedly facilitated billions of unwanted calls.…

Tech News Rhett Jones Jun 5

FCC Hits Robocaller With $120 Million Fine But the Calls Probably Won’t Stop Anytime Soon

The Federal Communications Commission summoned all of its regulatory strength Thursday and dropped a record $120 million fine on a notorious robocall operator who placed nearly 100 million spoofed calls. It’s just a shame that the punishment probably won’t accomplish anything. Adrian Abramovich of Miami, Florida was on the receiving end of the largest forfeiture…

Tech News AJ Dellinger May 10

The Robocall Nightmare Is Getting Worse

No doubt you’ve gotten an automated phone call at one point in your life. But since 2015, reports of robocalls have increased at quite an alarming rate, with around 4.5 million robocall complaints filed in 2017, an increase of about 2.4 million robocalls since 2015. A few million calls may sound like a lot, but…

Tech News Patrick Lucas Austin May 7

FTC: Phone Scammers Are Impersonating Chinese Consulate Staff, Have Made Off With Millions

Mankind, in their arrogance, once thought they had conquered their immortal enemy: The scam robocall. Unfortunately, thanks in large part to laziness by cell phone carriers, they’ve been back with a vengeance in recent years. Internet-powered robocalling systems are making it cheaper and easier than ever to launch barrages of calls at millions of phones,…

Privacy & Security Tom McKay Apr 22

Telecoms to Showcase Hot New Anti-Robocall Tech at DC Expo This Month

The nation’s biggest telecoms will offer a public demonstration of the latest technology for blocking illegal robocalls at an expo in Washington, DC, later this month. The Stop Illegal Robocalls Expo, hosted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), will take place on Monday, April 23rd, at the Pepco Edison…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron Apr 16

Google’s Phone App Is Getting the Power to Send Spam Calls Straight to Voicemail

While Congress grills Silicon Valley’s most lifeless Jello Jiggler today, the folks over at 9to5Google noticed that Google’s dialer app for Pixel and other stock Android phones has been upgraded with the ability to send spam calls straight to voicemail. The added functionality is an improvement to the Phone app’s existing spam call protection, which turns…

Tech News Sam Rutherford Apr 11

US Court Finds Anti-Robocall Rule Made Nearly Every Smartphone User a Criminal

A federal appeals court on Friday overturned a portion of an Obama-era rule aimed at curbing unwanted calls from nuisance telemarketing companies. The court found that a provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), intended to limit the use of automated dialers to make uninvited calls, was unreasonably expansive. The rule amending the TCPA…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron Mar 16

FTC Report Reveals Just How Awful Robocalls Got This Year

You’re not the only one who has noticed an uptick in annoying robocalls seemingly coming from your same area code. Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released their biennial report to Congress on the Do-Not-Call Registry. The latest installment of the databook featured more information about complaints than previous years, including a breakdown of…

Tech News Jennings Brown Dec 29

Those ‘Citizens for Trump’ Robocalls Were a Prank Gone Wrong

People around the country who were baffled and alarmed to get recorded phone calls telling them to stop making “negative and derogatory posts” about President Trump were the targets of a recently launched prank call app—a gag that misfired when the company’s automated disclaimer message failed to work. The calls, which claimed to be from…

Tech News Kashmir Hill Dec 1

People Are Getting Robocalls About Their “Derogatory” Trump Posts [Updated]

Brett Vanderbrook was driving for Uber last week when he got a call from an unfamiliar number. He let it go to voicemail and when he listened to it later, he got a shock: It was a recorded message telling him to stop making “negative and derogatory posts about President Trump.” “It was kind of…

Tech News Kashmir Hill Nov 29

How to Stop Spam Calls Before You Kill Your Phone

Somewhere along the way your mobile phone went from being a way for your friends and family to reach you, to becoming a portal through which marketers and spammers can bombard you with calls you’re not interested in. It’s sort of like the landline, only much, much more irritating. Here’s what you can do to…

Gadgets David Nield Apr 18

Destroy Your Phone: Judge Says Political Robocalls Protected Under First Amendment

It’s that time of year guys, when every politician under the sun has a robot call your house at prime eating time to encourage you to vote, or ask for money, or poll your feelings on Soccer Mom v Rotting Squash. At least this has been the case for many people in our fine nation…

Tech News Alex Cranz Jul 28

FCC Hits Asshole Robocallers With $2.94 Million Fine

The FCC has been conducting some major ass-kicking lately, a trend it is continuing with its latest move: slapping a $2.94 million fine, the biggest in FCC history, on a serial robocaller. The robocaller in question is Travel Club Marketing, a Florida company that tries to sell package holidays and timeshares over the phone. The…

Tech News Chris Mills Aug 13

Stop Sending Regular Text Messages

A New Senate Bill Would Hit Robocallers With Up to a $10,000 Fine for Every Call

FCC Tells Phone Companies to Figure Out a Way to Stop the Damn Robocalls by Next Year or Else

Magic Leap, BDSM-Bots, and Star Trek: Best Gizmodo Stories of the Week

35 States Tell the FCC to Get Off Its Ass and Do Something About Spoofed Robocalls

FCC Hangs Blockbuster $37.5 Million Fine Over Robocaller Accused of Spoofing Real Numbers

Corporations Are Lobbying to Keep Making Robocalls

FTC Accuses Group of Running Empire That Made Billions of Unwanted Robocalls

FCC Hits Robocaller With $120 Million Fine But the Calls Probably Won’t Stop Anytime Soon

The Robocall Nightmare Is Getting Worse

FTC: Phone Scammers Are Impersonating Chinese Consulate Staff, Have Made Off With Millions

Telecoms to Showcase Hot New Anti-Robocall Tech at DC Expo This Month

Google’s Phone App Is Getting the Power to Send Spam Calls Straight to Voicemail

US Court Finds Anti-Robocall Rule Made Nearly Every Smartphone User a Criminal

FTC Report Reveals Just How Awful Robocalls Got This Year

Those ‘Citizens for Trump’ Robocalls Were a Prank Gone Wrong

People Are Getting Robocalls About Their “Derogatory” Trump Posts [Updated]

How to Stop Spam Calls Before You Kill Your Phone

Destroy Your Phone: Judge Says Political Robocalls Protected Under First Amendment

FCC Hits Asshole Robocallers With $2.94 Million Fine

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