Consolidated Communications considers illegal robocalling to be harassment – a violation of our customers’ privacy.
We are actively participating in industry-wide examinations
of this issue and developing solutions to thwart the many sophisticated ways
criminals manipulate calling services to harass the public.
Here’s what we’re doing to identify and reduce unwanted robocalls to our customers:
- Customers
subscribing to Caller ID may have noticed warnings of potential SPAM or
fraudulent calls. This is part of our ongoing work to stop illegal robocalls.
If you have concerns about calls being mislabeled, please contact customer care
at 1.844.YOUR.CCI (1.844.968.7224).
- We are a proud member of the coalition of 51 attorneys general and other voice service providers that support the eight Anti-Robocall Principles for Voice Service Providers. These Principles will guide our efforts to protect voice service customers from illegal robocalls and make it easier for attorneys general to investigate and prosecute perpetrators.
- We continue to be an active participant in USTelecom and industry peer efforts to collaborate on implementing robocall mitigation tools.
- We support the implementation of the “STIR/SHAKEN” call authentication technology in order to help confirm for our customers whether an incoming calling number is spoofed. Spoofing is the act of disguising a communication from an unknown source to look as if it has come from a known, trusted source.
- We are a member of the US Telecom Industry Traceback Group, an industry-led organization that identifies the origin of suspicious robocall traffic, stops many illegal robocalls and helps enforcement agencies catch perpetrators.
Here’s what you can do if you’re receiving unwanted robocalls:
- Don't answer calls from unknown numbers. Let them go to voicemail.
- If the caller claims to be from a legitimate company or organization, hang up and call them back using a valid number found on their website or on your latest bill if you do business with them.
- If you answer and the caller (often a recording) asks you to press a button to stop receiving calls, or asks you to say "yes" in response to a question, just hang up. Scammers often use these tricks to identify, and then target, live respondents, or to use your "yes" reply to apply unauthorized charges on your bill.
- Be Aware: Caller ID showing a "local" number no longer means the caller or origin of the call is local.
- If you answer and the caller asks for payment using a gift card, it's likely a scam. Legitimate organizations will not ask for payment or donations with a gift card.
- Businesses might want to consider assigning their company’s main telephone number and select internal telephone numbers to an auto attendant so robocalls reach an automated message.
- If you have lost money because of a scam call, contact your local law enforcement agency for assistance.
- Consider registering your telephone numbers in the National Do Not Call Registry. Legitimate telemarketers use this list to avoid calling consumers who prefer not to be contacted.
- For residential and small business customers, we offer services, such as call blocking, caller id (with name and number), call intercept and anonymous call rejection that can limit the amount and number of robocalls you receive.