When I received a call from my dad asking who “Mr. Likely” was, my natural reaction was confusion–I did not know anyone by the last name of Likely. Upon realizing that my Cuban dad’s unfamiliarity with both words led to him erroneously believe that “Scam Likely” was a real person, I, too became intrigued. Who, in fact, were these “Scam Likely” calls, and why did they seem to infiltrate everyone’s phone?
These scam calls, popularly referred to as “Robocalls,” are one of the most quotidian yet pernicious consumer issues affecting vulnerable communities. They have increased in intensity over the past years; according to the consumer data, there are estimates that over 50 billion robocalls were made to unsuspecting citizens in 2019 alone.1 Robocalls vary in nature– some may ask for personal information such as home address or social security number; others are financially fraudulent and attempt to steal one’s credit card or banking information. While telemarketing calls are illegal, there are no other strong legal preventative measures to halt their persistence.
Though some may find these calls’ seemingly indiscriminate nature as a unifying nuisance, the truth is that they tend to prey on vulnerable demographics. Elderly, low-income, and low-educated communities suffer the most from this issue, as they often mistake the urgency and relevancy of the calls as a direct plea for their most private information. According to a study conducted by the AARP,2 age and education level are two of the main factors contributing to one’s chances of falling for a personal data breach.
The inherent issue within this easily solvable problem is that in the absence of any strong legal mechanisms, large phone companies do not do enough to install the necessary protective software to fix the problem on their end. Though phone companies such as T-Mobile and MetroPCS already use the popular “Scam Likely” caller identification, some of the nation’s largest phone providers, such as Verizon and AT&T, fail to standardize protection for all users. Instead, their websites recommend installing apps, phone-blocking software, or paying for the scam-blocking programs they offer. Additionally, the FTC and FCC do little to stop the calls- consumers must report the calls to the organizations, but they do not stop the calls from the root. Instead, they simply advise consumers to caution fraudulent-sounding calls.
Thus, a relatively easy and implementable solution to protect everyday consumers is to urge the FCC and FTC to mandate every major phone company to install the necessary scam identification software on all landlines and mobile phones. It is clearly not an impossible task– other phone companies have done it before. However, the issue is that phone companies refuse to pay for the automatic identifiable services to ensure their consumers do not get scammed. Nevertheless, the severity of the issue signifies that it is a high-priority problem in order to prevent the attacks on vulnerable communities who fall victim to identity and monetary fraud.
1. https://www.theverge.com/21327304/spam-calls-how-to-stop-block-robocalls-robots-scam-iphone-android
2. https://www.aarp.org/research/topics/economics/info-2019/robocall-spoofing-survey.html
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