Media Alert: Government Shutdown Shutters "Do Not Call Registry"--New Data Shows Businesses And Consumers At Risk As They Experience Onslaught Of Additional Robocalls
Government shutdown suspends "do not call registry" causing spike in spam calls nationwide-major crisis pending as businesses and consumers experience onslaught of robocalls stretching infrastructure thin as per newly released data from call-blocking app Robokiller
NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- RoboKiller (http://www.Robokiller.com), the call blocking app that gets revenge on telemarketers by countering robocalls with Answer Bots, released data today indicating consumers and businesses are experiencing a spike of over 250 million additional projected Robocalls this month as a result of the federal government shutdown now in its 35th day.
Robokiller directly attributes much of this substantial increase in spam calls to the suspension of the "Do Not Call" National Registry (http://www.donotcall.gov/), which has fallen victim to the shutdown crisis. Currently, consumers cannot sign up for the registry and legitimate telemarketers cannot honor the system as they have no access to the names and numbers on the list.
"With the Do Not Call Registry out of commission, spammers are calling DNC participants unchecked which means businesses and consumers are being impacted as their phones are inundated with unwanted calls," said Ethan Garr, RoboKiller's VP of Product. "Fortunately, our Answer Bots are fighting back against this wave; answering spammers' calls, engaging live operators, and wasting telemarketers' time."
Both consumers and businesses should be cognizant of this problem as it will likely get worse as scammers take advantage of the chaos caused by the government shutdown. Specifically, the 800,000 government workers impacted by the crisis may be more susceptible to new scams as they suffer without paychecks.
RoboKiller collects data for its Data Tracker (https://robokiller.com/robocall-data-tracker/) through its award-winning mobile apps for iOS and Android. As the app identifies and blocks hundreds of thousands of phone numbers to protect its users from ringing spam calls, it silently answers those calls with Answer Bots. These bots stole back nearly 90,000 hours of telemarketers time in December. The tracker showed over 5 billion robocalls being made per month during the second half of 2018.
If you would be interested in interviewing Robokiller VP of Product Ethan Garr or would like more information about this current situation, please contact:
Matt Sheldon
Matt(at)Precisionpr.co
(917) 280-7329
Sample "Answer Bot" Interactions:
https://www.robokiller.com/#radio
Robokiller VP of Product Ethan Garr testifies in front of Congress on this growing problem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA4ejH6NTgg&feature=youtu.be
The most common scam calls coming to our users:
1. Rachel From Cardholder Services - https://www.robokiller.com/recordings/rachel-cardholder-services.mp3
2. Todd with the Wellness Department - https://www.robokiller.com/recordings/todd-wellness.mp3
3. Carpet Cleaning Company- https://www.robokiller.com/recordings/carpet-cleaning.mp3
4. Investigation Team of IRS - https://www.robokiller.com/recordings/irs-investigation.mp3
5. Health Insurance Enrollment Center - https://www.robokiller.com/recordings/health-insurance-enrollment.mp3
6. Microsoft Security Department - https://www.robokiller.com/recordings/microsoft-security.mp3
SOURCE Robokiller
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