DENVER — Americans get peppered with 4 billion robocalls a month, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Steve On Your Side found a way to slow those calls down and potentially make a little money for your trouble.
There's a 33-year-old law meant to stop your phone from ringing off the hook. It's called the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and it applies to landlines, faxes and cell phones. And it means if someone uses an auto-dialer to call you, they may owe you money.
"It's just constant," said Peggy Baldrige, who called Steve on Your Side for help.
"I've got 25 here in the past eight, 10 days," she said. The robocalls come so often, she started logging them.
They'd like to sell Baldrige everything, whether it's death benefits, auto repair services, solar panels or diabetic supplies.
Baldrige doesn't have diabetes.
Needless to say, she doesn't want any of it.
Doc Compton was in the same boat, receiving as many as 30 calls a day. The difference was he was working at a law firm.
"The Telephone Consumer Protection Act is a federal statute that was passed in 1991 that makes it illegal for telemarketers to contact you by telephone without your express prior written consent," he said.
Compton knew about the TCPA, which says anyone who calls you with a robo dialer, or who uses a recorded or AI voice, could be liable for civil penalties between $500 and $1,500 per call.
It can be as much as $3,000 if your number is on the National Do Not Call Registry.
Compton fired off a demand letter in May 2018. He said the first time he tried it, he got a $3,000 settlement.
It worked so well, he made a business out of it. For $47, he'll send you a kit with template demand letters and tips on how to find the people who incessantly call you.
He said there are three steps. The first is to take the call. The second is to take the information you gather through the call and use that to identify the company, where they're located, who the people in charge are and so on. From there, you take a template demand letter, fill it out and send it in.
If you're wondering whether it's worth the hassle, ask David Ulery in Colorado Springs, who was getting constant calls from auto warranty companies.
He said he settled with two of them for a total of $3,000 and had his best year busting robocallers in 2022, when he made about $13,000.
He'll tell you the money's nice, but the peace is priceless.
"There's been a significant decline in the amount of robocalls that I get," he said. "If you get into their pocketbooks, then they're gonna realize, OK, well, this guy is definitely not somebody to call."
To be able to do it successfully, you've got to be able to distinguish a robocall from a scam call. The difference, Compton said, is scammers are fishing for personal information about you — robocalling telemarketers push to sell you something.
If you want to give it a try, follow this link.
If you have a consumer problem, contact the Steve On Your Side team.