Many people that receive those automated calls through their home or cell phones usually just hang up and block them.
One woman didn’t ignore them, and instead is making money off the situation.
The Minnesota native has collected a whopping $42,000 from taking these callers on.
Kristi VonDeylen of Oak Grove, Minnesota spoke with KARE 11 News and said the $42,000 she’s collected so far are settlements from the companies giving her unwanted calls.
She used an online kit called Doc Compton’s Turning Robocalls Into Cash she paid $47 for.
VonDeylen has used the money she made to pay off debt, purchase a new car, and go on vacation. It took 2 years to collect the $42,000.
Her first check was for $500 and took more work than she thought, but she said once she figured out how it worked it got a lot easier to cash in.
Here’s how the kit works:
First you need to be sure you’re on the company’s do not call list.
What VonDeylen did after that was answer every call and tried to speak to a human and learn more about the company if she could.
She then uses a virtual credit card so when the company charges it she can see their name.
After she gets the company’s name, the kit creates demand letters to mail to the company that demand they pay her.
This works because robocalls are illegal unless they have permission to call you, and it becomes especially illegal if you’re on a do not call list.
Doc Compton, who created the kit, says companies are willing to negotiate because they do not want to go to court where their identity is revealed or have federal agents combing their phone records.
Calls will usually pay out around $500-$1,500 per call and if a company calls you multiple times, the checks may be bigger.
In order to make a claim a company needs to call you twice in one year. You also may need to sue to get the cash, even though many will just settle.
Related: New York is trying to take action, but will robocalls ever be stopped?
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