DAVE ROSS

Ross: US finally doing something about rampant robocalls

Jan 30, 2020, 8:32 AM | Updated: Jan 31, 2020, 10:27 am

robocalls...

Robocalls continue to plague Americans every day. (Pexels)

(Pexels)

Government lawyers have been trying for years to stop robocalls. Now, I don‘t mind the occasional free vacation, and I appreciate when the calls at least pretend you have a choice.

Washington area code 206 gets highest amount of robocalls in U.S.

“Press 9 to be added to the Do Not Call List,” one of the robocallers often states.

But you have to draw the line. You don’t threaten people.

“And before you get arrested if you need any information or have any question kindly call us back,” another call warns.

And they call, and they call, and they call.

“This is your final courtesy call before we are unable to lower your credit card interest rate,” yet another will offer.

They even threaten not to call you! Again, and again, and again.

But this week, the Department of Justice, instead of just going after the call centers in India, is for the first time suing the U.S. companies that keep patching these calls through.

Ross: It’s never been easier to spread disinformation

And we’re talking about a lot of calls. One of these companies based in Scottsdale Arizona patched through 720 million calls over 23 days!

Hearing “press 9 to be added to the Do Not Call List” likely had 720 million people desperately pressing 9.

That would be like ringing the phones of every man, woman, child, foreign tourist, and domestic animal in America, and then calling the animals back two more times, just because they couldn’t press 9.

Listen to the Seattle’s Morning News weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Dave's Commentary

Dave Ross on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM
  • listen to dave rossTune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 5am for Dave Ross on Seattle's Morning News.

Dave Ross

kristi noem book...

Dave Ross

Ross: Gov. Kristi Noem’s new book includes alleged meetings with dictators, dead dogs

Did South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as she claims in her new book?

6 days ago

Image: Sound Transit tested train service on the 2 Line between southern Bellevue and Microsoft for...

Dave Ross

Ross: We built it, and they had better come

About 17,500 people attended the opening of the Eastside light rail line. It shows a curiosity about getting to Redmond without driving there.

11 days ago

Photo: A pro-Palestinian demonstration takes place outside the link light rail station at the Unive...

Dave Ross

Ross: Does the right to protest outweigh the right to learn?

When does a protest cross the line? I can answer that. When it devolves into violence, obviously it crosses a line.

13 days ago

privacy pods...

Dave Ross

Ross: Tracking employees’ vital signs at work via privacy pods, what could go wrong?

I saw a Bloomberg story about the latest innovation to reduce your stress level at work: Privacy pods.

1 month ago

car culture...

Dave Ross

Ross: Are we killing car culture? Or is car culture killing the US?

I don’t think the question is whether we're going to "kill" our car culture. The real question is can we stop our car culture from killing the U.S.?

2 months ago

drivers data insurance...

Dave Ross

Ross: As cars release driving data to insurance, is your driving my business?

Every move you make, every swerve you take, every lane change you fake – someone’s watching you. Do drivers have a right to keep driving data private?

2 months ago

Ross: US finally doing something about rampant robocalls