Security News > 2020 > May > Coronavirus Pandemic Claims Another Victim: Robocalls

Coronavirus Pandemic Claims Another Victim: Robocalls
2020-05-23 11:03

Industry experts say robocalls are way down - scam calls as well as nagging from your credit-card company to pay your bill.

In recent months, federal agencies have focused on going after the small telecom providers that were allowing calls from COVID-19 scammers, citing the urgency of the pandemic.

Free blocking tools that were already in place on many people's phones help consumers dodge unwanted calls, so it's not clear how many have noticed the lower numbers of scam and telemarketing calls in the past couple months.

"What we do hear from consumers is call blocking tools are effective in reducing a significant number of robocalls but some unwanted calls are going to slip through," said Maureen Mahoney, a policy analyst with Consumer Reports.

"While reports of robocalls are way down overall, we're now hearing about callers invoking the COVID-19 pandemic to pretend to be from the government, or making illegal medical or health care pitches," an FTC blog post declared in mid-April.


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