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How many scam cell phone calls do you get a day? New bill could decrease that number

Posted at 7:20 PM, Dec 11, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-11 19:53:06-05

How many scam phone calls do you get daily? All too often, the answer is too many. 

There has been a spike in cell phone scam calls, the First Orion Communications Company found. In 2017, 3.7 percent of all phone calls were scam phone calls and in just one year, that number jumped to 29 percent and is still growing, the research found. 

"In the coming year, nearly 50 percent of all cell phone calls will be scams," Chris Jacobs, New York State Senator said. 

Senator Chris Jacobs was fed up with the calls himself-- and is sponsoring a new bill that will allow telecommunications companies to block certain phone numbers. 

The legislation will give carriers like Verizon and AT&T the green light to use the technology they already have to block the unsolicited calls. The technology will be able to pinpoint the fraudulent number based on the type of number it originates from. 

"It will match the technology that these bad actors are using so that these false prefixes won't be able to work anymore," Jacobs said. 

The bill will take affect July 1st, 2019 if passed by New York State Lawmakers. 

To try and avoid the calls the best piece of advice the Better Business Bureau can give is to not pick up any call that you do not recognize.Here are some other helpful tips to decrease the number of scam calls a person can get courtesy of the Better Business Bureau: 

-Do not pick up any call you do not recognize

-Register with the Do Not Call Registry

-The IRS, Social Security, and the DMV are not calling people, they reach out through the mail. Do not give personal information over the phone unless you called that specific company. 

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