BOISE, Idaho — Like the rest of the country, Idaho is not immune to the constant barrage of robocalls. In fact, the Idaho Office of the Attorney General said robocall complaints jumped during the pandemic.
From March 2020 to March 2021, there were more than 17,000 complaints of robocalls in Idaho, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
FTC has a map that shows how many Do Not Call complaints each county reported and how many complaints there were per 100,000 people.
In Idaho, Jerome County reported the most Do Not Call complaints from March 2020 to March 2021. Ada County reported more than 4,200 complaints.
The complaints were made for a variety of reasons, from imposters to fake warranties and protection plans.
Imposters are the most commonly reported reason, with more than 4,000 complaints in Idaho. This is when a scammer spoofs a legitimate number and tries to steal your money or information.
The second most common reason for complaints is the fake warranty and protection plans. More than 3,300 hundred Idahoans filed complaints about this.
Reducing debt, medical and prescriptions, and computer and technical support were the other most commonly reported complaints.
Complaints decreased at the start of the pandemic. In March 2020, there was a slight decrease in the number of complaints from 1,447 to 960 in April 2020 and 1,085 in May 2020.
In March 2021m however, more than 2,700 complaints were reported.
Idaho's Office of the Attorney General said the majority of robocalls that reach Idahoans phones are criminals who want to steal personal information.
FTC said about three-quarters of these calls were automated, while a quarter were actual people.
The best way to stop robocalls is to ignore them. If that's not possible, look into a feature or service that can block phone calls or manually block robocalls after they've attempted to call you.
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