LAST NIGHT, LARRY BARKER
SHOWED US HOW HE TOOK ON
ILLEGAL
TELEMARKETERS BY TAKING
THEM TO COURT...WINNING
MORE THAN $50-THOUSAND
IN SETTLEMENT FEES.
TONIGHT, LARRY SHOWS YOU
HOW (YOU CAN FIGHT BACK.
HERE )S PART TWO, "DON )T
CALL LARRY BARKER."
Garr: "It )s a huge deal.
This is an epidemic. It
is a giant problem."
Childress: "Q. What does
it take for a
telemarketer to )get
it )? A. They have to be
sued and be made to pay
money."
Garr: "I think the vast
majority of them are
really horrible people.
I hate to say it but
some of these people
are out to really hurt
people."
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL
COULD NOT HAVE IMAGINED
HIS INVENTION WOULD
ONE DAY EVOLVE FROM A
COMMUNICATION DEVICE
INTO A
WEAPON OF SORTS. TODAY,
AMERICANS ARE BESIEGED
BY HORDES OF
ANONYMOUS PEDDLERS WHO
UTILIZE THE TELEPHONE TO
BRAZENLY DEFY THE LAW.
CONSIDER WHAT WE ARE UP
AGAINST.
Cardholder Accounts:
"Hello this is Rachel at
Cardholder Services
calling in reference to
your credit
card account."
"Hello this call is from
Microsoft security
department. We
encountered a serious
issue
coming out of your
computer."
"Hello I )m calling from
the health insurance
enrollment center."
"Hi this is Todd with
the Fullfillment
Department. Your
wellness package is
ready to be shipped."
JANICE KOPEC IS WITH THE
FEDERAL TRADE
COMMISSION.
Kopec: "We bring cases
to go after the folks
who are blasting out
those illegal calls. ...
Many of the more
recent cases that we
have brought have shut
down operations that are
responsible for billions
of
illegal calls."
PROHIBITED PRACTICES
INCLUDE ROBOCALLING
WHICH IS THE USE
OF MASS PRODUCED
RECORDED SALES PITCHES,
DISREGARD FOR THE DO NOT
CALL REGISTRY AND FAKE
CALLER ID.
Garr: "The extent of the
problem is epidemic
proportions. ... It )s
not a problem you can
solve with
legislation. It )s a
problem you have to
solve with technology."
WE TRAVELLED TO NEW
JERSEY TO MEET WITH
ETHAN GARR. HE IS AN
EXECUTIVE WITH TELTECH,
A COMPUTER SCIENCE LAB
THAT DEVELOPS
MOBILE APPS AIMED AT
BATTLING ILLEGAL
TELEMARKETERS.
Garr: "The vast majority
of them are scams and
spam calls. They )re
unwanted telemarketers.
They )re the
free cruises. It )s
Rachel from Cardholder
Services. It )s IRS phone
scammers and people
telling you that
your computer is broken
and unless you let them
log in you )re not going
to be able to use your
computer
again."
TELTECH )S LATEST VENTURE
IS A MOBILE APP CALLED
ROBOKILLER. IN 2015
ROBOKILLER WON AN FTC
CONTEST FOR ITS
INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO
COMBATTING ABUSIVE
TELEMARKETERS.
Garr: "Our newest app is
RoboKiller which stops
telemarketers from
reaching your phone. We
block all
these unwanted and
annoying calls. But
what )s really cool is we
answer those calls with
answer bots which are
our own robots that
waste the spammers time
by talking back to them
for hours on
end."
O
Barker: "And if you
thought being on the
Federal Trade
Commission )s Do Not Call
List protects you from
illegal telemarketers,
think again. With an
estimated 3 point 8
billion illegal calls
flooding America every
month, government
regulators are only able
to crack down on a
handful of egregious
violators." Garr: "They
have very little risk of
being prosecuted. Many
of these calls, probably
the majority, originate
overseas. It would be
almost impossible for
our government to find
these people where they
are
and prosecute them. ...
Even if you found them
it )s likely that they
would just close shop
and open
somewhere else."
Barker: "So what can you
do to stop the daily
bombardment of annoying,
illegal sales calls?
Well you
probably can )t keep them
from calling you
altogether but you can
fight back."
FEDERAL LAW ALLOWS
CONSUMERS VICTIMIZED BY
ILLEGAL TELEMARKETERS TO
SUE THEM IN COURT FOR
MONETARY
DAMAGES.
Childress: "There are
consequences for
ignoring these laws that
have been on the books
now for over 20 years."
SANTA FE ATTORNEY SID
CHILDRESS SPECIALIZES IN
SUING
TELEMARKETERS.
Childress: "Q. What )s
the message that these
lawsuits sent to
telemarketing firms that
cannot abide by the
law.? A. They can and
will be made to pay. ...
In a nutshell. I think
that )s what they
understand loud and
clear."
CHILDRESS HAS
SUCESSFULLY SUED DOZENS
OF SHADY TELEMARKETERS
AND HAS COLLECTED TENS
OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS
IN DAMAGES FOR HIS
CLIENTS.
Childress: "I )m fed up
with these calls. A lot
of people are fed up
with these calls. ...
And so I )m going to make
them pay."
NOW OF COURSE NOT
EVERYONE HAS THE TIME OR
RESOURCES TO HIRE
AN ATTORNEY AND FILE
LAWSUITS. HOWEVER,
THERES OTHER THINGS YOU
CAN DO TO PROTECT
YOURSELF.
FIRST, REGISTER ALL YOUR
PHONES, BOTH LAND LINES
AND MOBILE, ON THE
FEDERAL TRADE
COMMISSION )S DO NOT CALL
REGISTRY. IT ONLY TAKES
A
MINUTE OR TWO AND WHILE
IT WON )T PROTECT YOU
FROM CROOKED
TELEMARKETERS, IT WILL
PROTECT YOU FROM THE
HONEST ONES.
IT WILL TAKE A LITTLE
BIT OF TECHNOLOGY TO
THWART ILLEGAL CALLERS.
FOR
EXAMPLE INSTALL ON YOUR
CELL PHONE A CALL
BLOCKING APP LIKE
ROBOKILLER
AND YOU CAN PREVENT AS
MUCH OF 90% OF THE
SCAMMERS AND
SPAMMERS FROM CONTACTING
YOU.
Garr: "We want to help
people. We want to help
them get their phones
back and be able to
answer the
phone knowing its not a
telemarketer or a
scammer."
Barker: "When your phone
rings and you don )t
recognize the caller ID,
let it go to voice mail.
Telemarketers commonly
will illegally spoof
their caller ID to make
it appear like a local
call. Lastly, if
you pick up the phone
and a telemarketer or a
scammer is on the line
don )t engage them in
conversation. Either
put the phone down and
walk away or simply hang
up." Garr: "So just be
smart when you answer
your phone and know
that, don )t take for
granted that the
person on the other side
of the phone call is
someone you can trust no
matter how nice they
are. ... Q. Your
opinion do these guys
have a heart? A. No. I
think mostly they have
no heart." LARRY BARKER
KRQE NEWS 13.
YOU )LL FIND SOME HELPFUL
LINKS ON OUR WEBSITE...
LIKE WHAT YOU NEED TO
KNOW TO SUE ROBO-CALLERS
..AND HOW TO GET ON THE
NATIONAL "DO NOT
CALL LIST."
GO TO "ALWAYS ON" KRQE
DOT COM.
ADLIB TOSS TO WEATHER
.TONIGHT...Mostly clear.
Lows in the lower 40s.