Rossen Reports: We found something more annoying than robocalls

What could be worse than robocalls? Robotexts.

The numbers for robocalls aren’t nearly as bad as the ones for robotexts right now…

To protect yourself, request an identity protection PIN from the IRS.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Tax scams come in all forms, but the purpose is always the same.

Criminals are trying to get your financial and personal information, so here’s what you need to know.

“People need to realize that the IRS never initiates contact by text message, email, or social media.They actually still initiate contact the old-fashioned way through the US Postal Service,” said Chuck Minnich, owner of Foundation Capital Management, LLC.

The IRS will not initiate contact with a phone call either. Even if your caller ID says “IRS,” beware.

“The person on the other side will tell you that you’re either due for a large refund or you owe taxes,” said Minnich.

If you don’t provide your bank account information or promise to pay up, bogus threats often follow.

“Generally from supposedly law enforcement, threatening arrest, license revocation, or even deportation,” he said.

Another red flag is if someone claims to be from the IRS and demands payment in a very specific form…

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) – As a result of a cyber attack, residents won’t be able to reach the Levy County Sheriff’s Office non-emergency line for an indefinite amount of time. We’ll show you how the attack escalated.

TV20’s Landon Harrar reported, “basically how a denial of service cyber attack works is a number calls the sheriff’s office every tenth of a second which immediately jams up all the lines. This means nobody calling in can get through because all the lines are full and also means nobody inside the sheriff’s office can call out even to deputies working in the field.”

The attack initially started Thursday around noon and even forced a night time deputy to relay messages back and forth from those in the field by cell phone. Sheriff Bobby McCallum said, “the deputies if they had to call in they would call his cell phone so they could communicate and we could keep the one line that we had for dispatch to call out on open.”

It was thought the issue was resolved around 1 am Friday morning but once they announced the lines were open again around 10 am the attack resumed and this time with a voice on the other end of the phone. Sheriff Mccallum explained, “they identified themselves as a group and that they have 3 million lines to tie up and take over our phone system and then they made a ransom demand for millions of dollars.”

Trump signed the anti-robocall act following its bipartisan support in Congress.

President Donald Trump has signed a new law aimed at tackling the scourge of illegal robocalls.

The bipartisan legislation expanded the power of the Federal Communications Commission to deter spam calls and reinforced the responsibility of individual phone companies to protect their own consumers.

“With this legislation, phone companies will be required to give all consumers meaningful new protections against these calls and Americans will finally get some relief from the ringing telephone,” Maureen Mahoney, policy analyst with Consumer Reports, told The Associated Press.

April 27, 2018

Lawmakers are looking to work with the tech industry to stop a nuisance for millions of Americans: robocalls.

Robocalls, automated calls that use a computerized system to deliver pre-recorded messages or to connect a call to everyday Americans, are a problem for many, but especially the elderly, according to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection.

Last year, Americans were bombarded with 30.5 billion robocalls, an overall rise in calls from 29.3 billion robocalls placed in 2016. More than 3 billion calls were placed just this past March…

April 18, 2018

The alleged “face” of unwanted robocalls testified Wednesday that the technology to start a large autodial campaign is easy to use and can be set up by “anyone” from a home office.

“There is available open source software that can be misused by someone to make thousands of automated calls with the click of a button,” Adrian Abramovich said during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing.

Abramovich, who was appearing before the committee under subpoena, is facing a record $122 million Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fine for allegedly making almost 100 million spoofed robocalls over three months…

March 26, 2018

PHONE AND PHISHING SCAMS

Income tax filing season brings an increase in activity by would-be thieves using phone calls and email to try to get money out of taxpayers. That warning comes from the IRS.

Phone scams often involve someone calling a taxpayer, telling them they owe taxes and could be arrested if they don’t pay. The thieves try to frighten taxpayers into giving them their credit card numbers and perhaps other personal information. Sometimes the first call is a recorded message that demands the taxpayer return the call…

August 3, 2017

The FCC has proposed today a fine of more than $82 million against a North Carolina man and his insurance company that, it says, made more than 21 million illegal robocalls nationwide in an effort to sell health insurance.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is accusing Philip Roesel of Wilmington, North Carolina, and his Best Insurance Contracts, doing business as Wilmington Insurance Quotes, of displaying inaccurate caller ID information when making robocalls in an effort to sell health insurance…