GREENSBORO, N.C. — Robocalls are annoying. Some are legal, most are illegal, and the scammers don't care your name is on the Do Not Call registry.
Congress is once again looking at Robocalls and how to stop them. The Senate Commerce and Communications subcommittee heard from business and technology leaders this week about strategies to prevent unwanted and illegal phone calls and texts.
Most congressional hearings are long and at times a little boring, but every once in a while, you get a spark.
"In a civilization in which we can take pictures of Saturn's rings, the failure to solve this problem is not a matter of technology. It's a question of if people in power actually want to solve it," said Margot Saunders, National Consumer Law Center.
Several of the speakers pushed for government agencies to react quickly to scammers who evade new laws and to embrace new technology to stop Robocalls.
Robocall blocking app You-Mail says U.S. consumers received more than four billion robocalls last month and two billion unwanted scam and telemarketing calls.
The witnesses want the justice department to more aggressively enforce existing laws against companies responsible for these calls.
In the meantime, you can do something about Robocalls:
If you get a call from an unknown caller, don't pick up. Really. if it's important, the caller will leave a message.
Don't press a number to take you off their list. It's just a ploy to find out if the phone number has a human attached to it. Simply ignore it.