To quote Ronald Reagan: “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.”
I've been on the "do not call list" for years and I still get unsolicited spam and robo calls.
My understanding is that the fines against spammers are mostly ineffective and the government has been unwilling to place heavy CRIMINAL penalties on the spammers, i.e., putting them in prison would be a stronger deterrent than fines. Also, much of the spamming originates off-shore. We need laws that allow us to extradite spammers located in foreign nations for criminal trial here.
I’ve never used the Do Not Call list because I figured the scummy companies would buy the list and use it as a calling list.
Major Fines — The FCC has taken aggressive enforcement actions in recent years against telemarketers for apparent illegal caller ID spoofing and robocalling.
These included the largest FCC fine ever – $225 million – against Texas-based health insurance telemarketers for apparently making approximately 1 billion illegally spoofed robocalls...
a $120 million fine for illegal “neighbor” spoofing by a Florida-based time-share marketing operation
an $82 million fine against a North Carolina-based health insurance telemarketer
a $37.5 million fine of an Arizona marketer which apparently made millions of spoofed calls that appear to come from consumers
The FCC also proposed a $45 million robocall fine – the largest ever under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act – against a company that conducted an apparently illegal robocall campaign to sell health insurance under the pretense that the annual enrollment period had been reopened due to the coronavirus pandemic