COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio is being inundated with robocalls.
According to data from the Federal Trade Commission, Ohio ranks number 2 in the nation for the most complaints.
From January 2023 to December 2023, total complaints exceeded more than 6,000.
It’s become a bigger problem for one Ohio county. Delaware ranks number one for the most robocall complaints according to government records with more than 3,000 complaints.
Robocalls are automated calls with a prerecorded message usually dialed by a computer. Advanced robocall technology makes it more difficult to know if the caller is a computer or a live person.
Robocalls can also be telemarketing calls.
It’s a violation of federal law for telemarketers to call your home phone before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., take money from your account without your permission, send advertisements to your computer, cellphone or fax without your permission; or ask you to pay by non-conventional payment methods, such as providing the PIN from a cash reload card or using cash-to-cash money transfers like MoneyGram or Western Union, etc.
According to the Ohio Consumers Council, “To avoid unwanted calls from electric and natural gas marketers, contact your utility company to be placed on the utility’s do-not-contact list. Joining this list should always be free and can reduce sales calls from marketers.”
Placing your number on the Federal “Do Not Call Registry” may slow robocalls but it won’t prevent it.
So what can you do?
Coming up on Thursday we’ll tell how to fight back using programs on your phone and how to turn those unwanted calls into cash.
Issac Brewster of Grand Rapids, Ohio used the system and says he not only made thousands of dollars, but his phone hardly rings anymore with someone trying to sell him something.
“I'm looking to have made around $30,000-$35,000,” he says.
Watch Robocalls for Cash on Thursday at 6 p.m. on 10TV.
