Robocalls: Plague or Profit

Plagues can come in many forms, from the bubonic plague caused by the bacterium, Yersinia Pestis, infamous for killing millions of people in Europe during the Middle Ages to six other modern plagues documented as killing people today. But in the digital world another type of plague goes unchecked daily to the tune of billions infected. If you own a cell phone, you know what we are talking about… that’s right, robocalls.

In this article we cover:

Digital Plague of the 21st Century?

According to dictionary.com, the word “plague” used as a verb means:
· To trouble, annoy, or torment in any manner
· To annoy, bother, or pester
· To smite with a plague, pestilence, death, etc.; scourge

So, by this definition, it is easy to see how the current levels of robocalls clogging up everyone’s mobile phone certainly qualifies. Don’t believe robocalls are a plague? Check out our report of monthly volumes that news, magazine and government agencies depend upon for the most current data. In January 2020 alone, we saw 4.7 billion calls placed which was an average of 153.0 million per day, 6.4 million per hour, 1,800 per second or 14.4 per person.

As you may have experienced yourself, this problem is persistent and troubling, but it turns out that some people may have found a way to turn this misery into money.

Surprising Profit Potential

As surprising as it sounds, it seems that an industrious group of people have found a way to make robocalls become a profit center for them. By leveraging the current federal laws such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, that requires a company to have permission to call your mobile phone using an autodialer. The fines can range from $500 per incident to $1,500 if your number is on the Do Not Call Registry.

According to a CBS news affiliate in Dallas in an article titled “How to make robocallers pay you

“Thirty people are choosing to spend their Saturday trading tips. And together, they’ve earned nearly $350,000 turning robocalls into cash.”

The article goes on to highlight their methodology:

“‘Everyone hates robocalls,’ Doc Compton said. Compton, who lives in Texas, is the common thread. He created a $47 kit that everyone in the group bought. In his guide book, Compton explains step by step how to take on robocallers. But here are the basics:

First, answer the call.

  • Then, stay on the call. Jot down details like the company’s name, website and call back number.
  • If you spoke to a human, get their name and email address– anything that will help you verify the company and where it’s located.
  • Next, send a demand letter to that company detailing exactly how it violated the law.
  • Two federal laws state a company needs your permission to call your cellphone with an autodialer. If they call anyway, that’s a $500 violation. And if your number is on the Do Not Call Registry, that violation triples.

And while a company can ignore your letter, in some cases they don’t.”

So, the reason this works for an individual consumer is that these offending robocalling companies would rather pay out small fines when caught than deal with losing the huge potential they gain with the mass amount of robocalls they perform daily. Unfortunately, the law is rather restrictive, so finding a legitimate company willing to pay because they legitimately broke the law may be rather difficult.

How to block robocalls

How To Deal With Robocalls

If you would like to spend the time trying to make some profits off of the robocall coming your way, then by all means, employ the techniques described above. If you are like most people and just want them to stop clogging up your voicemail box and wasting your precious time, then it is time to download an app that will handle these calls for you.

Unfortunately, waiting for the carriers to solve this problem will not be a viable option. Despite the current laws focused on the carriers, it appears that little to no impact can be seen on the horizon.

Bottomline, you too can take advantage of an end to the robocall plague if you download YouMail today. Yes, it is truly free forever and you can get started in less than 5 minutes. If you decide to expand your business then YouMail can help with that as well with our premium offerings.

How to Block Robocalls Forever

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