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Congress, Mass. House looking at bans on robocalls

BOSTON — Robocalls offering free cruises and loan modifications could soon come to an end.

Massachusetts state representatives passed a bill to ban robocalls of any kind to cell phones and other electronic devices.

It makes exemptions for robocalls from school systems, alerts from the government and some calls from health providers.

The bill still has to go through the senate.

Two of the people testifying before a U.S. House of Representatives committee won Federal Trade Commission contests for developing robocall blockers.

Both say lawmakers will have a hard time passing new laws that will stop people making these types of calls.

“Legislation is not going to stop this problem, and enforcement is not enough of a deterrent to stop a $9.5 billion industry,” Robo-Killer developer Ethan Garr explained.

Both developers told congress the Do-Not-Call Registry just doesn't work and suggested an "opt- in" registry instead.

They also say if you get a robocall, just hang up the phone.

Robocall blocking services say Boston is the 36th most robocalled city in the country.

The FTC says last year it received more than 4.5 million complaints about illegal robocalls. That's up from 3.4 million complaints from the previous year.

These 'bots" turn the tables on the telemarketers with recorded voices that fool the spammer into thinking a real person picked up the call.

Robo-Killer is an app you can download that identifies and stops robocalls from ringing on your phone. It also includes an answer bot.

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