If you’ve taken the time to read our tips here at CyberGuy to keep phone scammers at bay, good for you. One of these tips is to put your phone number on the national and state Do Not Call list. However, you might find that you’re still getting calls from scammers. This is because the Do Not Call list primarily targets legitimate telemarketers and has limited effectiveness against scammers and illegal robocallers who often ignore the list.
This is what happened to one of our newsletter subscribers who told us that even though she took the time to put her number on that list, she still receives many annoying calls. “I repeatedly tell them to remove my number and stop calling, but they continue to call,” she said. She noted that caller ID indicates that these phone calls are coming from spoofed phone numbers. Even though she blocked these numbers too (another tip to ward off scammers), they’d call back from another number. So, why is this permitted? And how come being on the Do Not Call list is not enough? Let’s thoroughly answer this once and for all.
Receiving calls from scammers when you’ve gone out of your way to prevent them from calling you can be rather frustrating. Unfortunately, despite being on the Do Not Call list, you may still receive unwanted calls due to a few reasons:
Some types of calls are exempt from the Do Not Call regulations. These include calls from political organizations, charities, and companies with whom you have an existing business relationship. Scammers often disregard the Do Not Call list and continue to make unsolicited calls. These individuals and organizations engage in illegal activities and are not bound by the regulations set forth by the FTC.
Sometimes, telemarketing companies or organizations may inadvertently call numbers on the Do Not Call list due to data errors or technical issues. Additionally, scammers can purchase phone numbers on the dark web, allowing them to target a wide range of individuals regardless of their registration on the Do Not Call list.
While we’d like to think it’s enough to put your number on the national and state Do Not Call list, as we learned from this subscriber, it’s not a foolproof method. They can still find ways to get to you. That being said, don’t neglect putting your number on this list. Keeping scammers from calling you requires a combination of different strategies, and each one helps reduce the number of scam calls you’ll get over time.
Invest in personal data removal services, check for recent data breaches on websites you have accounts with, and don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. Use spam blocker features on your phone, notify your mobile service provider about the calls, and report unwanted calls to the FTC and your state attorney general’s office. If the calls persist, consider changing your phone number and consult a consumer protection attorney.
Putting your phone number on the Do Not Call list is a great step in keeping scammers away. But it’s not the only way. It takes utilizing different strategies — and keeping up with those strategies — to send the scammers elsewhere.