Pesky, persistent and problematic. This is how many people view the aggravating robocalls that inundate their phones. These include automated calls claiming to be the IRS, vacation offers, health insurance updates, car warranty extensions, debt relief services or supposed credit card fraud alerts.
Some robocalls are legal, such as those in which you’ve given prior consent, like updates on school closures or appointment reminders. But if you receive a robocall trying to sell you something, and you haven’t given the caller your written permission, it’s illegal, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) consumer advice information. And many of these are also scams.
The aim with these type of calls is to gain access to sensitive information and “lure people into making impulsive decisions,” says Keelan Knox, security engagement manager with Alias Cybersecurity, an Oklahoma-based company. In short, they are more than a nuisance; they are a nationwide issue. In fact, the FTC states that unwanted calls are the commission’s top consumer complaint.
Why the Rise?
Technology advances have allowed for robocalls to be made anywhere in the world, making it cheap and easy for scammers to generate large volumes of automated calls, according to the FTC.
Robocalls represent the majority of complaints that Oklahomans have made on the National Do Not Call Registry (donotcall.gov), a database managed by the FTC where people can register to limit the amount of telemarketing sales calls they receive.
From September 2023 to September 2024, Oklahomans registered 28,092 total complaints. Of that list, about 15,000 were complaints about robocalls.
Stopping Calls, Avoiding Scams
So, what happens when you receive a robocall? For starters, don’t answer. But that can be a tough habit to break for generations of people who grew up to always answer when the phone rings, says Ethan Shaner, Oklahoma’s deputy attorney general.
“I get the calls, too, but you’re certainly not going to make them stop by answering, and you’re probably going to get more if you do answer,” he says. If you do answer, do not respond to automated prompts or give out information.
Knox advises people to “trust no one, question everything and verify,” when it comes to robocalls.
For example, if you get a call from someone saying they represent a company or government agency, hang up and check that company or agency’s website to find a contact number and talk to a representative there directly.
Another way to help stop robocalls is checking into apps that you can download on your phone to block unwanted calls. Knox says it also helps to notify phone providers about call-blocking tools they may have.
“It’s a collective effort on everyone’s part to try to be more aware, and be vocal about it and notify someone to report it,” he says.
New Initiatives
Shaner said there are statewide and national initiatives to help address the issue of robocalls. One example is a working group of attorneys general from different states, who discuss emerging trends in scam calls and illegal telemarketing calls, as well as ways to educate the public about these phishing tactics.
In December 2024, Oklahoma’s attorney general Gentner Drummond, along with 50 other attorneys general who comprise the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, investigated a variety of providers and issued warnings to four voice-service provider companies that transmitted suspected illegal robocall traffic on their networks. The task force provided their findings to the FCC. The same month, the FCC announced plans to tighten restrictions on illegal robocall and nuisance calls. For more information about stopping unwanted calls, fcc.gov.
