Robocall

A robocall is a call that delivers a recorded or computer-generated message. The FTC puts it simply: if you answer and hear a recorded message instead of a live person, it is a robocall. Some are legal, such as appointment reminders, flight updates, and certain calls from political campaigns, charities, and debt collectors. Most sales robocalls are not. According to the FTC, robocalls trying to sell you something are almost always illegal unless the company has your written permission to call you that way.

Two federal rule sets cover them. The FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule governs sales calls, and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) restricts calls using a prerecorded or artificial voice without consent. The TCPA is the one that lets you sue: each illegal robocall can be worth $500, or up to $1,500 if the violation was willful.

Robocall lawsuits usually fall into a few patterns:

• Prerecorded sales calls to cell phones without written consent.
• Calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry.
• "Wrong number" calls, where a company keeps calling a reassigned number meant for someone else.
• Calls that continue after you asked the caller to stop.

Keep records: screenshots of the call log, saved voicemails, and notes of any company name mentioned. Scammers who spoof numbers are hard to sue, but companies that hire telemarketers can be liable for their calls. See our robocall lawsuit page, wrong number robocalls, the TCPA explainer, and how to stop robocalls and spam texts.