How many times do you get calls from numbers you don’t know? Probably more than you’d like. I’ll tell you how to make money off those unwanted telemarketing calls. Also -
- I’m getting answers for one family left ‘DRAINED’ over crazy water bills.
- Parking customers are charged WAY MORE than the posted price. Learn what you’ll want to double-check the next time you park.
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Yes, you can make money from robocalls
Robocalls are the top complaint to the Federal Trade Commission. Two federal laws give consumers the right to turn those calls into cash. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule make it illegal for a business to call your cell phone using an autodialer without your permission.
Every time they do they owe you no less than $500. You have to do some homework to get the money, but if you do it right - the payoff is good.
Doc Compton, the founder of Robocalls for Cash, joined Amy Davis for an episode of Ask Amy to explain the types of calls. Check out the full interview here.
Family fights water bill for home demolished 20 years ago
Imagine getting a water bill for a home that hasn’t existed in more than 20 years. That’s what happened to the Garcia family in Shady Acres. They reached out to KPRC 2 Investigates feeling ‘DRAINED’ after trying to resolve a growing bill with the Houston water department for more than a year!
In 1999, Elena and Tomas Garcia demolished a house on a piece of property they own near the Heights. In late 2021, the city of Houston started charging a monthly fee for the meter that was still in the ground. To make those charges stop, the city said the couple would have to spend thousands of dollars.
That didn’t sound right so I worked to figure out how this is possible.
“It felt like a bait-and-switch” Parking garage customers overcharged
Parking anywhere in downtown Houston is going to cost you. But drivers who parked in one garage on Franklin Street were shocked when their credit cards were charged five times more than the advertised rate. They asked me for help so other drivers aren’t duped.
The company that manages this particular parking garage and 600 others all across the country is a fairly new AI tech firm that said it has created “next-generation parking.” It wants to bring “parking lots into the future,” but Houston customers said what they encountered was a good, old-fashioned bait and switch.
You may be sharing scams on social media without knowing it
A lot of us love sharing stories and content on social media. But we’ve got a warning: you may be sharing scams with your friends without even knowing it. Fraudsters are tricking people into sharing their suspicious links and scams.
A really common example of this is missing pets or missing people posts. You may feel inclined to just share those to help find the person or animal. But a lot of those aren’t real. After we all share it the scammer then edits the post to something entirely different. Check this out to make sure you don’t accidentally spread spam.