Robocall victims may qualify for $500 to $1,500 per unwanted call
That unknown number calling at the worst possible time? The one with the robotic voice asking for someone who clearly isn’t you?
It turns out that call goes beyond being annoying. It could actually be illegal and worth between $500 and $1,500.
How does a spam call turn into cash?
There is a law called the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. It’s been around since 1991, and it basically says companies can’t spam your phone with automated calls unless you’ve given them permission.
That includes pre-recorded “your warranty is expiring” messages, debt collection calls meant for someone else, or any robotic voice hitting your phone out of nowhere.
Even if it’s a mistake, like dialing the wrong number, it can still be illegal. As long as the call gets to you, whether it was intended for you or not does not matter here.
The scale of this is kind of insane, as robocalls aren’t rare edge cases.
“Your car warranty is about to expire.”
“We buy homes for cash.”
Multiply calls like that by 52.5 billion calls in a year. At one point in December alone, robocalls were hitting at a rate of over 1,600 calls per second.
At that volume, mistakes like calling the wrong person are bound to happen. That adds to the reason companies have paid massive settlements over the years. Caribbean Cruise Line once paid up to $76 million in settlements while Capital One agreed to settle a class action lawsuit with $75.5 million in 2014.
There is a process
While there are several ways to fight back, one Florida-based law firm, Greenwald Davidson Radbil, has set up a process where you can submit your phone number, when the call happened, and what it sounded like.
From there, they assess whether it qualifies under the law. If it does, they can help you work your way to compensation.
There are no guarantees, as not every spam call qualifies for the compensation. The call usually has to be automated or pre-recorded and come from a business or telemarketer. It also has to happen without your consent. So, random human wrong numbers don’t count.
Source: The Independent
