Hearing or Speech Loss
Residential
Southern Montana Telephone works with its customers who are hearing, vision, or speech impaired, or have mobility or cognitive impairments, or other disabilities, to ensure that their individual telecommunication needs are met. First, we will identify what special needs an individual customer has so that we can help design a telecommunication solution for that person.
Telecommunication Relay Services
A telecommunication relay service provides free interpreting services between individuals with hearing and speech disabilities and individuals who do not use standard telephone equipment or telephone equipment designed for individuals with disabilities. The service is free by dialing either a toll-free number (800) 253-4091 or by simply dialing 7-1-1. The service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Federal and state laws require all call information and conversations to remain confidential.
Types of Devices and Software Available
There are several Telecommunication Devices and Software available for individuals with disabilities. The following is a list and description of some of these available devices:
B – Blind, HH – Hard of hearing, VI – Visually impaired, CI – Cognitively impaired, LMI – Lower Mobility Impaired,
UI – Upper Mobility impaired, D – Deaf, SI – Speech Impaired, WS – Weak Speech,
Amplified Phone (HH or D)
A telephone with volume controls to adjust for loudness for persons hard of hearing. The phone can be cordless. Some models amplify from 30 dB to 50 dB.
Amplified Cell Phone (HH or D)
A wireless phone with volume controls to adjust for loudness for persons hard of hearing.
Big Button Telephone (VI or B or UMI or CI)
A telephone with large dialing numbers, backlit numbers, braille numbers, or slots for picture inserts dialing.
Bluetooth Cell Phone (HH or D)
A wireless phone with Bluetooth capability.
Bluetooth Compatible Phone Device (HH or D)
A device that enables a user’s hearing aid to work with a Bluetooth device.
Bluetooth Hub (HH or D)
A device that enables a landline phone to work with a Bluetooth device.
Braille Telecommunications Device (HH or D or SI and VI or B)
Same as TTY, but can convert the text typed and received into braille.
Captioned Telephone* (HH or D)
A phone that allows the user to listen on a handset and then read the other person’s response on the display.
Cordless Phone (VI or B, or LMI)
A phone without a cord so that the user is not restricted to a single location.
Hands-Free Activated Phone (VI or UI)
A device that allows the user to dial pre-programmed numbers and answer calls using a remote, soft touch, or air switch.
Hearing Carry Over* (SI)
A phone that allows the user to type on a keyboard and then hear the other person’s response on a handset.
Lapel Microphone (WS and UI or WS and VI)
A device used with a hands-free activated phone to increase the loudness of the user’s voice.
Outgoing Voice Amplification Telephone (WS)
A phone with volume control capabilities to increase the loudness of the user’s voice.
Ring Signaler (HH or D)
A device that alerts the user of an incoming call with a light that flashes as the phone rings.
Speakerphone (HH or VI or B or UI or CI)
A phone with a speaker built into the base.
Tactile Ring Signaler
A device that vibrates when the phone rings.
Talk Back Number Dialed Telephone (VI or B or UI)
A telephone that vocalizes the numbers dialed.
TTY* (HH or D or SI)
A device with a keyboard and display screen that can be used for text communication over a telephone line when one or more parties have hearing or speech difficulties.
Two-Way Paging Device* (HH or D or SI)
A text messaging device with a standard keyboard that can send and receive wireless messages.
Voice Carry Over* (HH or D)
A telephone that allows someone with a hearing disability to speak directly to a telephone user and then read a response on a display.
Voice Dialer (VI or B or UI)
A device that allows the user to dial a pre-programmed number by voice command.
*May require the caller to place calls through a relay service.
Network Transparency Statement
Terms of Service and Network Management Practices
1) The bandwidth you purchase (your service package or nominal bandwidth) is the MAXIMUM bandwidth available to you. Your nominal bandwidth is not guaranteed. Southern Montana Telephone makes its best effort to transmit your data in a timely fashion; however, Southern Montana Telephone does not guarantee that you will be able to use your entire nominal bandwidth at any given time. This is referred to as the “best-effort” service. Southern Montana Telephone’s prices for its service offerings and access speeds are set forth by the company elsewhere on our website – https://smtel.com/internet/.
Southern Montana Telephone strives to make your total nominal bandwidth available for you to use within our network. Southern Montana Telephone cannot control bandwidth available, congestion, or service quality on those parts of the Internet beyond our network.
When other customers use our network, you may not be able to use your maximum nominal bandwidth because all customers share the total bandwidth capacity at some points on our network and the Internet. If the bandwidth demand of all customers at that network location exceeds the bandwidth capacity provided, you may not be able to use your entire nominal bandwidth. All services are “shared services” used by many customers.
We size our Internet services based on the best engineering practices and the bandwidth demand of all our customers, including your service. Service is provided equally to all customers, and every customer’s data has an equal opportunity to be served. Service is provided equally to all customers, and all Internet services, protocols, sources, or destinations on the Internet, such as websites, e-mail servers, etc. Southern Montana Telephone does not practice directly or indirectly any prioritization of traffic that favors some traffic over other traffic, whether it is to an affiliated company or any other customer or entity, in exchange for consideration, money, or otherwise.
2) Southern Montana Telephone may block any service, protocol, source, or destination that Southern Montana Telephone determines to be illegal or a threat to life, property, or national security, or if ordered to block or otherwise modify your data by law enforcement agencies. Southern Montana Telephone may block any service, protocol, source, or destination where Southern Montana Telephone determines, at its sole discretion, that such blocking is necessary to protect our customers and our network from security vulnerabilities such as viruses or malicious software, or known exploits such as phishing or routing redirects. This includes situations where your computer has been “hijacked” by malicious software, such as a Trojan horse, or in situations where we determine that your computer is a source of “spam.” We will attempt to contact you in such a situation. Still, we reserve the right to block any customer’s computer from access to our network before contacting you if we determine such action is necessary to protect other customers, our network, or other sources or destinations on the Internet. Southern Montana Telephone does not, other than for reasonable network management as discussed above, block or otherwise prevent end-user access to lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices.
3) At this time, Southern Montana Telephone does not implement network management techniques when congestion occurs. However, in times of congestion on our network, Southern Montana Telephone may, at its sole discretion, implement reasonable network management techniques to protect the services of all of its customers so that each customer has adequate service quality.
Southern Montana Telephone will not implement network management if degradation of service is caused by congestion on portions of the Internet outside of Southern Montana Telephone’s network. Southern Montana Telephone will notify our customers on this website of changes to our network management policy.
Southern Montana Telephone does not, other than for reasonable network management, throttle, degrade, or impair access to lawful internet traffic based on content, application, service, user, or use of a non-harmful device.
Devices & Software that may be attached to Southern Montana Telephone’s Internet Access Service
1) There are no restrictions on the types of devices you may connect to Southern Montana Telephone’s network; other than that, they must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use in the US telecommunications network. You may not connect any equipment to Southern Montana Telephone’s network that is not approved by the FCC. Most commercially available equipment, such as modems, routers, and PCs, is approved. All equipment approved by the FCC will have a label stating that it is approved. This information is also found in the user’s manual or printed instructions that are provided with the equipment, and may be found online at the manufacturer’s website. You should read this label whenever you buy any equipment you wish to connect to Southern Montana Telephone’s network. If you have questions about any particular equipment, please call us at (406) 689-3333.
2) Southern Montana Telephone’s internet access service is designed to function with accepted industry standard interface software such as Microsoft, Apple, and others. If you use software not widely used on the worldwide Internet, you may experience some compatibility problems between your software and Southern Montana Telephone’s Internet access service. If you have any questions, please call us on your responsibility to ensure that their software and operating interfaces conform to industry-accepted specifications.
Network Security
1) Southern Montana Telephone uses industry best practices to maintain the integrity and security of its network. This may include security protections that interfere with some types of customer traffic. If you believe our security systems are disrupting your services, please contact us at (406) 689-3333. Southern Montana Telephone provides a level of protection for your computers from spam, viruses, and other malicious or unwanted items. While Southern Montana Telephone strives to provide reasonable protections, we make no guarantees that we can prevent all malicious or unwanted items from accessing your computer. It is your responsibility to protect your computers and other devices from unwanted or harmful cybersecurity threats. It is very strongly recommended that you provide your virus and malware protection, spam filtering, and firewall software.
FCC Broadband Performance Testing
The FCC requires Southern Montana Telephone to ensure customers receive the broadband they are paying for. Random customers are selected and tested regularly. Reports are sent from Southern Montana Telephone, with testing results, to the FCC verifying that customers are receiving the services they purchase.
Use of Southern Montana Telephone’s Services for Real-Time Applications such as Streaming Video
1) The best-effort services described above may be suitable for real-time applications if the customer has purchased adequate bandwidth for that service. Disruption during times of congestion, if any, that you experience, will be minimized if you purchase adequate bandwidth for the services you wish to use. However, since there are occasionally conditions of extreme congestion at various points on the Internet, Southern Montana Telephone does not guarantee that your service will never be degraded. Bandwidth requirements will differ by real-time application. For example, videos such as those offered by services such as YouTube may require less total bandwidth than entertainment-quality streaming video. Bandwidth requirements may also differ among content providers.
Privacy of Customer Information
1) Southern Montana Telephone inspects packets of data you send or receive over our network to allow us to route and, where applicable, prioritize data. We inspect only the packet headers, which tell us where to send your data and the type of data it is, i.e., web surfing, video, file transfer, etc. Southern Montana Telephone does not examine the content of your data, i.e., the data that you send or receive, such as the messages from and to e-mail addresses of your e-mail, which websites you visit, the sources of your video, or the contents of files you send or receive. Southern Montana Telephone does not store, sell, or reveal your data to any third-party.
2) Southern Montana Telephone may provide any of your data, both on an active, real-time basis and stored data such as your billing records, to law enforcement under appropriate legal orders if law enforcement requests your information in matters dealing with illegal acts or a threat to life, property, or national security.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or comments regarding our network management policies or practices, please contact us at (406) 689-3333 or smtc@smtel.com.
Southern Montana Telephone Acceptable Use Policy
1. This “Southern Montana Telephone Acceptable Use Policy” sets forth the Southern Montana Telephone policy on acceptable use by you of the service, which includes your free personal webspace, e-mail, and other services that may be added from time to time. It is designed to help protect the service, Southern Montana Telephone’s customers, and the Internet community from irresponsible or illegal activities.
2. Southern Montana Telephone reserves the right to decline to provide service to you, or immediately to terminate your service for material breach, if your use of the service or your use of a User ID or the User ID of additional users on your account, whether explicitly or implicitly, and in the sole discretion of Southern Montana Telephone: (a) illegal, such as child pornography; (b) espouses, promotes, or incites bigotry, hatred, or racism; (c) might be legally actionable for any reason; and (d) in any manner violates the terms of this Acceptable Use Policy.
3. You may not use the Service as follows:
(a) for any unlawful, improper, or criminal purpose or activity;
(b) to post or transmit information or communications that, whether explicitly stated, implied, or suggested through the use of symbols, are obscene, indecent, pornographic, sadistic, cruel, or racist in content, or of a sexually explicit or graphic nature; or which espouses, promotes, or incites bigotry, hatred, or racism; or which might be legally actionable for any reason;
(c) to attempt to access or access the accounts of others, to spoof or attempt to spoof the URL, DNS address, or IP address of Southern Montana Telephone or any other entity or person, or to attempt to penetrate or penetrate security measures of Southern Montana Telephone WEB or other entities’ systems (“hacking” whether or not the intrusion results in corruption or loss of data);
(d) to bombard individuals or newsgroups with uninvited communications, data, or information, or other similar activities, including but not limited to “spamming,” “flaming” or denial or distributed denial of service attacks;
(e) to transmit unsolicited voluminous e-mails (for example, spamming) or to intercept, interfere with, or to redirect e-mail intended for third parties using the Services;
(f) to introduce viruses, worms, harmful code, and Trojan horses on the Internet;
(g) to post information on newsgroups that is not in the topic area of the newsgroup;
(h) to interfere with another person’s usage or enjoyment of the Internet or this Service
(i) to post or transmit information or communications that are defamatory, fraudulent, obscene, or deceptive, including but not limited to scams such as “make-money-fast” schemes or “pyramid/chain” letters;
(j) to damage the name or reputation of Southern Montana Telephone, its parent, affiliates, and subsidiaries, or any third parties;
(k) to transmit confidential or proprietary information, except solely at your own risk;
(l) to violate Southern Montana Telephone or any third party’s copyright, trademark, proprietary, or other intellectual property rights, including trade secret rights;
(m) to use more than one IP address without the knowledge and consent of Southern Montana Telephone;
(n) to generate excessive amounts (as determined by Southern Montana Telephone in its sole discretion) of Internet traffic, or to disrupt net user groups or e-mail use by others;
(o) to engage in activities designed to or having the effect of degrading or denying service to Southern Montana Telephone users or others (including activities that compromise a server, router, circuit, or Software;
(p) to use any name or mark of Southern Montana Telephone, its parent, affiliates, or subsidiaries, as a hypertext link to any website or in any advertising publicity, or other commercial manner;
(q) to use your Southern Montana Telephone account to operate a server of any type other than with the knowledge and consent of Southern Montana Telephone;
(r) to use the service or the Internet in a manner intended to threaten, harass, or intimidate;
(s) to cause the screen to “scroll” faster than other subscribers or users can type to it, or any action that has a similar disruptive effect, on or through the Service;
(t) to use the service to disrupt the normal flow of online dialogue,
(u) to use the service to violate any operating rule, policy, or guideline of any other online service provider or interactive service;
(v) to attempt to subvert, or to aid third parties to subvert, the security of any computer facility or system connected to the Internet;
(w) to impersonate any person or use a false name while using the Service;
(x) to install “auto-responders,” “cancel-bots” or similar automated or manual routines that generate excessive amounts of net traffic or disrupt net user groups or e-mail use by others;s;
(y) to make false or unverified complaints against any Southern Montana Telephone subscriber, or otherwise abuse any of Southern Montana Telephone's complaint response procedures;
(z) to use software or any other device that would allow your account to stay logged on while you are not actively using the service.
(aa) to export software or any information in violation of US export laws;
(bb) to use the service in contravention of the limitations of the pricing plan, you have chosen;
(cc) for DSL customers who use static IP, such customers must only use their assigned IP address; or
(dd) to open more than three simultaneous connections to newsgroups at any one time, or to rapidly open and close or create connections for users other than yourself (our subscriber).
4. Copyright Infringement/Repeat Infringer Policy. Southern Montana Telephone respects the intellectual property rights of third parties, including those granted under the US copyright laws, and the interests of its subscribers and content providers on the Internet. You may not store material on, or disseminate material over, Southern Montana Telephone’s systems or servers in any manner that constitutes an infringement of third-party intellectual property rights, including rights granted under the US copyright laws. Following the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and other applicable law, it is the policy of Southern Montana Telephone to terminate, in appropriate circumstances, the Service provided to any subscriber or account holder who is deemed to infringe third-party intellectual property rights, including repeat infringers. Appropriate circumstances may exist where (i) a subscriber or account holder has been found by a court of competent jurisdiction to have infringed the copyrights of a third party on two or more occasions, i.e., a repeat infringer, (ii) where a valid, effective and uncontested notice has been provided to Southern Montana Telephone alleging facts which are a violation by the subscriber or account holder of Southern Montana Telephone Copyright Policy prohibiting infringing activity involving Southern Montana Telephone systems or servers, or (iii) in other cases of repeated flagrant abuse of access to the Internet (e.g., willful commercial piracy or malicious attempts to destroy the value of copyrighted works). Besides, Southern Montana Telephone expressly reserves the right to terminate or suspend the service of any subscriber or account holder if Southern Montana Telephone, in its sole judgment, believes that circumstances relating to the infringement of third-party intellectual property rights warrant such action. These policies are in addition to and do not affect or modify any other rights Southern Montana Telephone may have under law or contract.
5. You shall comply with all applicable local, state, national, and international laws and regulations, including those related to data privacy, international communications, and exportation of technical or personal data. You represent that you are not a specifically designated individual or entity under any US embargo or otherwise the subject, either directly or indirectly (by affiliation or any other connection with another party) to any order issued by any agency of the US Government limiting, barring, revoking, or denying, in whole or in part, your US export privileges. You agree to notify Southern Montana Telephone if you become subject to any such order.
6. You shall not delete any proprietary designations, legal notices, or other identifiers belonging to third parties from any information obtained or sent using the Services. You shall not impersonate any person or use a false name while using the Services. You agree to obtain all required permissions if you use the Service to receive, upload, download, display, distribute, or execute Software or perform other works protected by intellectual property laws, including copyright, trademark, trade secret, and patent laws. You agree to cooperate with Southern Montana Telephone and provide requested information in connection with all security and use matters. You agree to promptly notify Southern Montana Telephone if you suspect unauthorized use of the Service or your UserID. You remain liable for unauthorized use until your notification to Southern Montana Telephone. You agree that your name, UserID, and other identifying information may be placed in our user directory.
7. Southern Montana Telephone reserves the right to cooperate with legal authorities and injured third parties in the investigation of any suspected crime or civil wrong.
8. Southern Montana Telephone reserves the right, but shall be under no obligation, to monitor your compliance, or the compliance of other subscribers, with the terms, conditions, or policies of this Agreement.
Southern Montana Telephone Anti-Spam / Anti-Virus Protection Terms and Conditions
1. Service Agreement
1.1 This Southern Montana Telephone Anti-Spam / Anti-Virus Protection Terms and Conditions Agreement (“Agreement”) is entered into by the subscriber (“you”) and Southern Montana Telephone (“SMT”). By using the Anti-Spam / Anti-Virus Protection service (“Service”), you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions herein. You agree to allow Southern Montana Telephone to process incoming e-mail messages against known SPAM (defined as un-requested, unsolicited e-mail messages from entities that you have no business or personal relationship with) filter rules that are implemented automatically on inbound e-mail accounts that are enrolled in the Service to determine if the messages are unsolicited (SPAM).
2. Scope of Service
2.1 The processing of email messages is by computer-automated systems. Portions of the Service may be provided to Southern Montana Telephone by a third-party vendor(s), over which Southern Montana Telephone exercises no control. Southern Montana Telephone warrants that the Service is being provided by automated computer processing and that NO employee, affiliate, or agent of Southern Montana Telephone is reading your or other subscribers’ e-mail messages. The processing required to provide this Service is limited solely to the determination as to whether an e-mail message should be considered and treated as SPAM. The Service does not include archive, store, or otherwise collect any email messages or portions thereof, except as outlined herein.
2.2 Southern Montana Telephones reserves the right to change the method of electronic processing and filtering used to provide this Service without prior notice to you. Southern Montana Telephone further reserves the right to disable the Service temporarily, without notice, to prevent detrimental service degradation to you and other Southern Montana Telephone subscribers.
2.3 By agreeing to use the Service, you acknowledge that the Service is provided on a “Best Effort” basis and agree that no SPAM / VIRUS filtering service or technology is 100% effective. You understand that you may continue to receive unsolicited messages, despite the Anti-Spam / Anti-Virus Protection Service being enabled. E-mail messages that have been determined to be SPAM will be sidelined in the Greymail e-mailbox that is provided as part of this Service. E-mail messages determined to be SPAM will be held in a Greymail e-mailbox for thirty (30) days before being deleted. Access to your Greymail e-mailbox is provided solely through the web interface (“webmail”) provided to you as part of the e-mail service. Southern Montana Telephone acknowledges that from time to time, legitimate e-mail messages that are not SPAM may be flagged by the Service and placed in your Greymail email box. As such, you are highly encouraged to review the content of your Greymail e-mailbox at an interval more frequently than thirty (30) days. Southern Montana Telephone is not responsible for emails that are lost or deleted as of a result of being flagged and placed in your Greymail account and not retrieved. You understand that it is strictly your responsibility to check the contents of your Greymail e-mailbox promptly. Southern Montana Telephone is not responsible or liable for consequential actions arising from the deletion of legitimate e-mail placed in your Greymail e-mailbox and not retrieved.
3. Limitation of Liability and Remedies
3.1 Communications from Southern Montana Telephone, its’ parent, subsidiary organizations, or other entities likewise linked are not considered SPAM. All communications from Southern Montana Telephone to its customers are exempt from SPAM filtering.
3.2 THE SERVICE PROVIDED BY THE ANTI-SPAM / ANTI-VIRUS PROTECTION SERVICE, AND ITS LICENSORS, IS PROVIDED ON A “BEST EFFORT,” “AS IS,” “WITH ALL FAULTS.” TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE SERVICE AND ITS LICENSORS DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, concerning THE SERVICES PROVIDED HEREUNDER, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED SERVICE.
3.3 EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE SPECIFICALLY outlined in THIS AGREEMENT, Southern Montana Telephone, ITS THIRD-PARTY LICENSORS, AND THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS, DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES FOR THE SERVICE, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, NON-INTERFERENCE, TITLE, COMPATIBILITY OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS, INTEGRATION, THOSE ARISING FROM THE COURSE OF DEALING, COURSE OF TRADE, OR THOSE ARISING UNDER STATUTE.
3.4 IN NO EVENT SHALL Southern Montana Telephone, ITS THIRD PARTY LICENSORS OR THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR: (A) ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS OR LOSS OF REVENUE OR DAMAGE TO DATA ARISING OUT OF THE USE, PARTIAL USE, OR INABILITY TO USE THE ANTI-SPAM / ANTI-VIRUS PROTECTION SERVICE.
3.5 Southern Montana Telephone, ITS THIRD-PARTY LICENSORS, AND THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS DISCLAIM ANY LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY ARISING FROM ANY CLAIM THAT YOUR ACCESS OR USE OF THE SERVICE PROVIDED UNDER THIS AGREEMENT INFRINGES ANY THIRD PARTY’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.
4. General Provisions
4.1 The remedies expressly outlined in Southern Montana Telephone Anti-spam / Anti-virus Protection Terms and Conditions are your sole and exclusive remedies under this Attachment.
Federal Lifeline Assistance Program
Lifeline is a federal benefit that lowers the monthly cost of phone or internet service for qualifying customers. Blackfoot offers this program, administered by the Universal Service Administration Company (USAC) and the National Verifier, to help make communications services more affordable. You can use Lifeline for either phone or internet service. Click below to access the National Verifier Customer Portal to apply online or view additional resources.
National Verifier Customer Portal
Southern Montana Telephone
Say “Do-Not-Call” To Unwanted Telemarketers
A national Do-Not-Call Registry has been established to address unwelcome telemarketing calls. The registry applies to all telemarketers, with the exception of businesses with whom you have an existing relationship and specific non-profit and political organizations. Commercial telemarketers are not allowed to call you if your number is listed on the registry.
Consumers may register their residential telephone number, including wireless numbers, on the national Do-Not-Call Registry at no cost, either by telephone or via the Internet. To register by telephone, call 1 (888) 382-1222. For TTY, call 1 (866) 290-4236.
You must call from the telephone number you wish to register. You also may register or obtain additional information via the Internet at www.donotcall.gov. Inclusion of your telephone number on the national Do-Not-Call Registry will be active three months following your registration. Your number will remain on the registry for five years, at which time you may re-enter your number on the list. You also can remove your name from the list at any time.
Stop Unwanted Robocalls
Your phone rings, and you glance down. The number looks only vaguely familiar, but you hesitate and wonder: Could it be important? You answer, and it’s a recorded voice demanding a return call about a car warranty you’re sure you don’t have. You hang up, distracted and annoyed.
If you’re receiving any unwanted calls, you’re in good company. Illegal robocalls and texts are the Federal Communication Commission’s top consumer complaint and an urgent consumer protection priority. But what can you do? We offer a few tips below, but first, here are a few terms to know:
- Robocalls A recorded call sent by an automated source to a large number of people. Often sent by telemarketers with legitimate offers but also used by scammers for fraudulent purposes.
- Spam Includes all forms of unwanted communications, including unsolicited calls or texts. It may be a legitimate—or illegitimate—marketing message, scam sales offer, malware threat, or other unwanted solicitation.
- Spoofing Scammers use this technique to make a caller ID number look familiar and legitimate. They may use a local area code, a government agency’s or private company’s name, or even a number from your contact list. Here are ten tips to combat unwanted robocalls and protect yourself from scams:
Do not answer calls from unknown numbers.
- If you answer such a call and do not recognize the voice or company calling, hang up immediately.
- Be aware of spoofing. The Caller ID number may not be the entity calling.
- Hang up if a caller or a recording asks you to hit a button to stop receiving their calls. Scammers often use this trick to identify potential targets.
- Do not respond to any questions, especially those that can be answered with “Yes.” Affirmative statements can lead to further conversation and a false sense of security.
- Do not offer personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother’s maiden names, passwords, or other identifying information in response to unexpected calls or if you are at all suspicious.
- Be wary if you feel pressured to disclose personal information. You should simply hang up.
- Use the “Block Caller” feature on your landline or smartphone (scammers often change numbers, so this will work only for the particular number blocked).
- Consider using a robocall-blocking app for your smartphone. For landlines, you can request certain numbers be blocked by calling our office at (406) 689-3333. Register your number on the Do Not Call List. Legitimate telemarketers consult the list to avoid calling both landline and wireless phone numbers on the list.