TCA Explains: How Can Consumers Protect Themselves Against Robocalls?

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In 2021 there were over 50 billion robocalls in the United States. 

A robocall is a call that delivers pre-recorded messages through auto-dialing software, and its purpose is usually to sell consumers something and scam them.

America’s telecommunications watchdogs have attempted to impose heavy financial penalties against illegal robocallers. They have demanded that they repay millions to their victims, but almost no funds have been retrieved years later.

Since 2015, the Federal Communications Commission has ordered violators of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (a federal law governing telemarketing and robot dialing) to pay $208.4 million. 

That massive amount includes forfeiture orders in cases involving robocalling, Do Not Call Registry, and telephone solicitation violations. The FCC has only collected $6,790 of the $208.4 million.

Christopher Roberts, a lawyer with Butsch Roberts & Associates, explained to Top Class Actions that private citizens could help end spam/robocalls by enforcing their rights and using the law – which is more effective than the ability of the government to end these calls.

The reason why there seems to be an increase in robocalls as of late, Roberts says,  might be due to a ruling from the United States Supreme Court last year in a case called Facebook v. Duguid. 

“That has made it much more difficult for consumers to prevail. I think that more calls are being placed because it’s more difficult to prove that something was an autodialer now than it was before,” Roberts told Top Class Actions. 

According to Roberts, as technologies have evolved, it has become easier and cheaper for companies to send large amounts of calls or text messages. 

Roberts says the new FCC commissioner has expressed an interest in more vigorously enforcing the laws and imposing penalties against robocallers. 

“The government has a role, but I think that consumers have an even more important role,”  Roberts told Top Class Actions, “Private citizens have an incentive to stop these calls from coming to their phones, and the way they do that is most commonly is through a federal law called the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which provides a private right of action for consumers to get $500 and potentially up to $1,500 per illegal call.”

Some states are now starting to adopt statutes that provide additional protections for consumers. For example, Florida has adopted a statute that provides a penalty under state law for robocallers and also now has a more expansive definition of what an autodialer is.

“The government has a role, and it’s really important that the private citizen — the consumer — has a more important role, because the government does not have the resources to pursue all these illegal calls…and there’s billions of these calls placed in this country alone this year,” Roberts told Top Class Actions. 

If you’re on the National Do Not Call list and get multiple marketing calls after you’ve been on that list for more than 31 days, the potential recovery for the consumer is $500 to $1,500 per illegal call.

I​​n the TRACED (Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence) Act, Congress gave the FCC new ways to fight unwanted and often illegal robocalls, the top consumer complaint reported to the FCC annually.

“Congress adopted this law to give the consumer a tool to fight back and begin to reclaim their phone and their peace of mind,” Roberts told Top Class Actions. 

For consumers to better protect themselves against relentless robocalls, they need to be more informed about their rights, and they need to check their state laws to see if any specific telemarketing laws can be used to help stop these calls.

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