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Trying to make cash off robocalls

Posted at 4:44 PM, Mar 15, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-18 17:12:06-04

FOX 17 - If you are tired of getting "robocalls" on your cell phones, you aren't alone.

We get the calls here at the station too, both at our desks and on our work phones. So, when we saw this story fromFOX 29 in Philadelphia, we were interested and we passed it along to you, via our sharing partnerships with other Fox stations.

It also raised some questions. Robocalls.cash claims that with a $47 kit, they can help you fight back against "robocallers" and actually demand that they send you cash as payment for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.  The concept is that by breaking this rule, the company that made the call would be willing to settle with you, the victim, for anywhere from $750 to $5,000.

We asked the Better Business Bureau of West Michigan if this works. They told us via email that it could work if real companies, who are afraid of getting in trouble, make the calls.  However, since most scam callers don't care that they are already breaking the law, the likelihood that they'd look to "settle" a dispute is probably unlikely.

The procedure to try and get payments from a company involves trying to get information from the caller where you can determine what company is calling and where they are located. As it turns out, we received a call Friday afternoon and tried to get the information out of the caller, but they hung up on us.

In general, you will need to do some real work to get your money.