Between January 15 and 21, 2023, Brazil recorded an average of 2.47 billion calls made by robots per week, according to data released by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel). The number refers to calls lasting less than three seconds and is equivalent to 51% of all calls made in the country during the survey.
Last year, Anatel launched a precautionary measure to repress the abusive attitude of companies. In the first week of May 2022 alone, the agency counted 3.59 billion spam calls — equivalent to 60% of the total calls recorded in the period.
In a note sent to the Byte portal, Anatel stated that the measures adopted remain in effect until the end of April 2023. Despite the number still being scary, the agency notes the reduction in the number of telephone spam since the action came into force.
On average, Brazilians receive 13 spam calls per week in 2023
A survey carried out last month with 2,000 Brazilians revealed that, on average, 13 spam calls are received per week. Researcher Inês Ferreira, from the Higher School of Social Communication (ESCS), in Lisbon, published the results online, check it out:
- 59% know someone who has been the victim of a telephone scam;
- 24.8% pay for anti-spam application;
- 1 in 5 Brazilians receive spam calls after 8pm;
- 83% of Brazilians have already caught a scammer in action on their cell phone;
- 96% are afraid that older family members or friends may be victims of phone scams.
Anatel measures
In an interview for the Tilt portal, Cristiana Camarate, superintendent of consumer relations at Anatel, explains how punishment works for companies that assume this behavior, considered abusive, of harassing customers:
“As punishment, the measure foresees that companies that make more than 100,000 three-second calls per day and those that the proportion of quick calls is equal to or greater than 85% among all calls made on that date, are blocked for 15 days and prevented from making calls during this period”, he explains.
The superintendent also reveals that despite the reduction after the announcement of the measures, the numbers are growing again: “These numbers are seasonal, they end up varying from one week to the next. even more. We are studying a sequence of measures to be implemented over the years”.
How do robocalls work?
Robocalls are software technologies that use artificial intelligence (AI) to make automated bulk calls. With the aim of facilitating the employee’s work, avoiding the need to waste time calling from customer to customer, the system contacts several customers at the same time, directing them to employees as soon as they answer the call — that’s what explains Thiago Frederick, commercial director of Callflex+VoxAge, a company that creates telemarketing robots for companies.
What actually happens, however, is that a few seconds after the customer says hello, the robot hangs up. According to Anatel, many companies use this ‘tactic’ to update their registrations as “proof of life”, that is, to know when a number is being used and if the customer answers strangers. “With technology, they call ten people simultaneously for one to answer and, thus, they update their own database systems”, adds Camarate of consumer relations.
What to do to stop spam?
Consumers can use the “Do not disturb me” tool free of charge in order not to receive calls from companies. site. Another alternative is the “Qual Empresa Me Ligou?” portal, launched in February this year, where customers can check who is making the calls and make a direct complaint to the company.
In an interview with the Tilt portal, lawyer Marina Freire Santos, a specialist in consumer law, said that only after exhausting all possibilities, the user should go to court “claiming the abstention from calls, and eventual compensation for moral damages that he has suffered “.
