People in Oklahoma are being warned that robocalls are likely to increase as the country gears up for the 2020 elections.

The 2020 elections, which will be in November, will see all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives, 35 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate, and the office of the president of the United States contested. Thirteen state and territorial governorships, as well as numerous other state and local elections, will also be contested.

CPR Call Blocker, makers of a call blocking device is warning that people in Oklahoma are likely to get deluged with robocalls in the coming months and that they should know their rights when it comes to “these irritating calls”.

Chelsea Davies, CPR Call Blocker Business Development Manager, said: “People throughout Oklahoma receive these types of annoying calls every day. Some of these robocalls, which are more informative in nature, such as those from political parties or charities, can be extremely irritating but they are perfectly legal. Unfortunately, people in Oklahoma can expect to see a significant rise in these types of calls in the coming months.

“While the information based robocalls are annoying, they are relatively harmless. However, there are other robocalls which are far from harmless and are trying to scam you. A robocall cannot legally attempt to sell you anything unless you gave them written consent. So if you receive calls of this nature, simply put the phone down. It’s good to report robocalls that are trying to sell you something or scam you to the Federal Trade Commission.”

Typical scam callers may claim to be from the IRS or other law enforcement agencies. Here’s some advice:

• Hang up if you ever have any doubts about someone who has called you.
• Ensure the line has been terminated before making any further calls. You can tell if the dial tone is present or by using another phone.
• Never give out your PIN number, banks will never ask for it.

If you want to stop receiving scam and nuisance calls, take these steps:

• Sign up to the National Do Not Call Registry – call 1-888-382-1222 or visit donotcall.gov
• Don’t consent to being contacted – get your phone number taken off directories and look out for tick boxed on all marketing correspondence to see if ticking or unticking them will prevent your details being passed on to third parties.
• Consider getting a call blocker.

Davies said, “In the meantime, if you suspect you may have compromised your account, contact your bank or card provider as soon as possible. It also advisable to check your bank and card statements regularly for unauthorized charged as a matter of course.”