We’ve been warning about scams for years, and new statistics show that the situation has only gotten worse.
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller joined a coalition of 42 attorneys general this week in calling on the Federal Communications Commission to take more action to stop the growing number of illegal robocalls and number spoofing.
The AGs are urging the FCC to adopt rules on enforcement against caller ID spoofing on calls to the United States from outside our country. They also want the FCC to address spoofing in text messaging.
The AGs say that the number of spoofed calls and victims' financial losses associated with those scams have increased by nearly 50 percent in recent years. In 2018 alone, Americans received nearly 18 billion scam robocalls.
Some of those scams are by criminals who claim that they’re lottery officials. They typically will promise that you’ve won a big prize and say you’ll receive if you first pay them a “processing fee” or sales commission in advance. But the prize is fake, and if you send them money, you’ll never see it again.
Our video above shares more details about the scams and how to protect yourself. The AG’s Office advises you to report suspected scam calls to the FCC Consumer Complaint Center. The AG also says to consider using call-blocking apps and other services to reduce the number of robocalls you receive.
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