More people than not have received annoying robotic phone calls stating they are from Marriott over the past few years. Hopefully more people than not have also not fallen for whatever scam they’re trying to pull. The following article from Loyalty Lobby goes into detail on some good news – Marriott is taking action against this activity!
Marriott International, Inc. recently filed a federal lawsuit in Virginia against the unknown perpetrators (“John Does”) responsible for illegal and fraudulent “robocalls” misusing Marriott’s name. The suit claims these bad actors are using Marriott’s brand for their own commercial gain in violation of state and federal laws. Marriott will aggressively pursue the identities of the robocallers to halt these illegal acts affecting Marriott customers and others.
Illegal robocalls are an abusive and deceptive form of telemarketing, with over 18 billion pre-recorded telephone calls in the U.S. in 2020. Four months into 2021, that figure has already reached 7.2 billion.* Marriott, its customers and the American public at large have been aggressively targeted by these robocallers. To induce consumers to purchase the promotion, the robocallers falsely represent that they are agents or employees of Marriott. Illegal robocalls in the U.S. fraudulently claiming to be from Marriott increased dramatically in 2020 – to a peak of seven million per month.
How Consumers Can Protect Themselves
There are a number of steps consumers can take to help protect themselves from these illegal and fraudulent robocalls:
- Know the facts:
- If you answer the phone and hear a recorded message instead of a live person, it’s a robocall.
- Marriott is not associated with and does not authorize any robocalls using prerecorded messages.
- Marriott has not and will not provide any contact or personal information to the perpetrators making these fraudulent phone calls.
- What should I do if I receive a robocall?
- Do not provide any personal or credit card information.
- End the call immediately.
- Report robocalls to the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.
- Contact your phone company to learn more about the blocking and labeling solutions that may be available to protect you from unwanted and illegal calls.
For more information on phone scams, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer information page.
Conclusion
It isn’t very pleasant to be at the receiving end of these calls. I have received hundreds of them (based on the transcripts I have glanced at) trying to sell me warranties for items that I even don’t have.
I don’t even pick up any calls unless I have prearranged one or know the caller. All the “calls” that I make with Friends & Family are over various apps such as FB Messenger or WhatsApp. The only calls that I make using my phone (very rare) are to various businesses.
Click here to read the full article from Loyalty Lobby
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