Which calls annoy you the most? “Sally from cardholder services”, “Selected for a free vacation”, “Detected a virus on your computer”, “Clean your air ducts” … or, something else.
Hard not to notice that the “do not call list” is an emasculated relic.
According to YouMail – a company that tracks robocall activity – Americans are now getting almost 3.5 billion (with a “b”) robocalls each month … “equaling roughly 10.4 calls per person affected”.
Why the surging numbers?
==========
I narrow the proliferation of robocalls to 2 fundamental causes:
(1) The practice is so widespread that it’s nearly impossible for the Feds to stop it … especially since many (most?) are now originating offshore. The DNC list worked – somewhat, for awhile – because voluntary compliance was pretty good … so there were relatively few perps who could be ID’ed and nailed with big fines.
(2) Homa’s “Rule of Non-recurring Idiocy” … translation: it works! Sure, the hit rates are low but they’re not zero. The costs of making an automated call are so low and the return is so high when a fish is caught, that the economics are sufficiently good for the practice to proliferate.
Bottom line: Don’t expect the flood of nuisance calls to subside anytime soon.
And, don’t expect government regulation and enforcement to cause a cease & desist.
So, what to do about it?
==============
Next up: A simple action to ease the pain …
==============
Follow on Twitter @KenHoma
#HomaFiles
Leave a Reply