Not even Law 11/2022, approved on June 28, a year ago, has served to curb spam calls, which have even increased in this time. There are reasons that can explain the phenomenon, but also actions you can take to remedy it.
The Robinson list, which has been in use for many years, is still there and even the police themselves have recently reminded us of the importance of registering on it, to avoid receiving unwanted communications on our mobile. However, this list, which in theory serves to prevent companies from calling us to sell us something, is in practice useless for a large number of users. In all kinds of forums and networks, there is no shortage of stories from people who complain about how, despite being registered on it, they continue to receive typical commercial calls from mobile operators, energy companies or others.
The fact is that this list should now work with even more reason, given that last year the General Law of Telecommunications was approved, which explicitly prohibits companies from calling customers or users without their explicit consent. Well, apparently this is not enough either. As revealed by Facua Following a recent survey, the issue of annoying spam calls has not only not improved, but has actually worsened: 98.3% of respondents say they have received this type of call, 2% more than last year, despite the fact that this law has been in force for twelve months.
So what’s going on? Why do companies ignore and disregard users’ wishes to not be bothered by this invasive form of advertising? Companies are experts at using any legal loophole to keep getting away with it, but there are some things users can do to more effectively counteract a commercial call.
Why do they keep calling?
It’s been proven. The Robinson list is not always enough to free citizens from spam (doubts abound about its effectiveness in forums such as Reddit either Forocoches). It should be noted that being on the Robinson list should at least reduce the spam you receive, even if some calls still get through, so it’s still a good idea to sign up if you’re not already. But there are a couple of possible reasons why it may not filter out all the commercial calls:
On the one hand, it must be taken into account that there are companies established outside Spain (which may be legitimate or, directly, centers of scams) to which Spanish law or the Robinson list do not care, basically, at all. If our number has been leaked on the deep web due to a massive information breach in a company or service (which occurs all too frequently), it is possible that they are calling you from unreliable sites.
Secondly, legitimate companies could be ignoring the Robinson list by having you agree to unclear terms and conditions somewhere in the registration process on their websites. Perhaps you have been interested in an operator or service, and without much thought, you have agreed to their use of your data for marketing purposes. This, however, is no excuse if they are not asking for your explicit permission to call you, so you can file a complaint.
Ways to cut spam off at the root
As we said, there are still things that citizens can do to request the immediate cessation of these communications. Firstly, it is possible to report if a company ignores our presence on the Robinson list. Unfortunately, only 9.9% of users say they know how to make this complaint. You can carry out this procedure through the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD). You can start the procedure from this linkand better understand your rights in their Web. Don’t think that reporting is useless; some people have obtained court rulings in their favor and have made money from it.
On the other hand, dozens of users claim to be using a typical phrase to make the situation clear to the salesperson who calls you, and which can force the company to comply with your order to avoid legal problems. You should simply say after being contacted by phone something like: “I do not wish to receive commercial information from you, please remove me from your database.” By saying this, if the company is serious about compliance, it should listen to you without complaint and remove you from its database, since you have explicitly demanded it. Noticing that the salesperson takes this request as a joke is, in fact, a clear sign that those who call you are actually scammers.
Finally, you should sign up for the new platform which Facua has opened for those affected by unwanted commercial calls. Supporting the efforts of this consumer association will be a very effective way of putting pressure on companies and politicians to take action on the matter more urgently. Also, don’t forget to use antispam applications such as TrueCaller or the call filters that are already built-in natively in Android, iPhone or Xiaomi to stop your phone from ringing for this reason.
