Tools for blocking unwanted spam calls on your phone

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Investigations by the Federal Trade Commission led to a court in California ordering two Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) companies to deliver information about robocalls.

“Companies that receive FTC Civil Investigative Demands must promptly produce all required information,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection in a news release. “These demands are not voluntary. Companies that don’t respond fully, or don’t respond at all, will have to answer to a federal district court judge, as these cases demonstrate.”

The two companies are XCast Labs in Los Angeles, which, according to the FTC, produced a fraction of the materials requested by the FTC in 2021. The second company is Deltracon, in Irvine, California. According to the FTC, the company failed to respond to an order which "materially impeded the FTC's investigation."

According to the Central Ohio Better Business Bureau, VoIP is often used by robocalling groups.

"Because it's going through broadband internet, it makes it harder for the apps and some of the cell phone provider's blocking technologies," said BBB President Judy Dollison. "It just makes it easier for them to bypass those filters and reach their victims."

Someone who experienced this very thing was Susan Kuhn Melvin of Worthington. She has numerous apps on her phone to block calls.

"It is a pain in the neck," Melvin said. "For those of us who are generationally blessed, we don't always carry our phones."

The calls are still able to get through.

"I also receive calls that are labeled as legitimate companies, such as the one I received last week from "OHIO HEALT." said Melvin, noting that the final "H" for OhioHealth was left off the caller ID. "I was concerned it was coming from my doctor, so I returned the call. It was a spam call."

Dollison said one of the red flags to look for on a bogus or scam call is a misspelling, whether it is online or on your caller ID.

Melvin wanted to know what action she could take to help prevent robocalls. The Ohio Attorney General's Office recommends not answering calls from numbers and contacts you don't recognize.

You can also join a Do Not Call list by going to the FTC's website or phone number below:

• Register your phone number(s) with the Do Not Call Registry online at www.DoNotCall.gov or by phone at 888-382-1222
• Research services offered by your phone provider to block unwanted calls
• Install a trusted and reliable app on your cellphone to block or warn of suspicious calls
• Add trusted phone numbers to your contacts
• Limit the people and businesses with whom you share your phone number

The FTC wants to remind consumers that there are many robocalls that are legal and that there is a strict set of guidelines that must be followed. You can find those here, as well as tips on how to stop any robocall.