Malcolm Rivera
Political calls are made by political parties, candidates, or organizations related to campaigns, polls, or elections. They are a regular part of election seasons and can be a source of frustration for many people due to their inconvenient timing. While most political calls are not considered spam, there are also political phone scams, which are disguised as legitimate political messages with the intention to mislead or defraud people. These scam calls are often challenging to identify, and recipients must be cautious when receiving them.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Definition | A political call on an iPhone is a call made by a political party, candidate, or organization related to campaigns, polls, or elections. |
| Purpose | Promoting a candidate, rallying support for an issue, or gathering public opinions |
| Timing | Political calls are more common during election season |
| Legality | Political calls are generally legal, but there are consumer protection rules that regulate what senders of political messages can do. |
| Blocking | iPhone users can block political calls by going to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb and adjusting the settings, or by blocking specific numbers through the Phone app. |
| Scam risks | Political calls may be scams intended to mislead or defraud people. |
| Caller ID issues | In some cases, a number may be incorrectly flagged as a political call due to spoofing or spam warnings. |
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What You'll Learn
How to identify a political call
Political calls are made by a political party, candidate, or organization related to campaigns, polls, or elections. They are a regular part of election seasons, and you may receive them if you are on the Do Not Call Register.
To identify a political call, it is important to be aware of the election season and the timing of the call. If you are receiving a call from a political party, independent member of parliament, or candidate, it is likely a political call. Additionally, if the caller is a fundraising organization, it could be a political call. However, be cautious as these organizations might be scammers trying to mislead or defraud you.
To verify the authenticity of the call, you can do the following:
- Research the organization by searching for them on the internet and social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit. Look for other people's experiences with similar calls and their opinions on the organization's legitimacy.
- Check the caller ID, but don't rely on it solely. Caller ID spoofing allows spammers to change the number that appears on your caller ID. For example, they can add the Washington, D.C. area code to the phone number to make it seem more official.
- Contact your carrier to inquire about the call and the number. They might have additional information or advice on how to handle such calls.
If you want to avoid political calls, you can try enabling "Do Not Disturb" mode on your iPhone. This will allow you to block incoming calls during certain hours, including political ones. You can also block specific numbers directly from your call log or contacts list.
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How to block political calls
Political calls are made by a political party, candidate, or organization related to campaigns, polls, or elections. During an election season, it is likely there will be an increase in calls and texts from political campaigns. While campaign calls and texts are exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry requirements, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) contains specific rules they must follow.
If you want to block political calls on your iPhone, you can try enabling "Do Not Disturb" mode. This will allow you to block incoming calls during certain hours, including political calls. Here are the steps:
- Go to Settings.
- Select Focus.
- Choose Do Not Disturb.
- Adjust the settings to fit your needs.
Another way to block political calls is by blocking specific numbers. You can block unwanted numbers directly from your call log or contacts list. Here are the steps:
- Open the Phone app.
- Find the number in your Recents or Contacts.
- Tap the "i" icon next to the number.
- Scroll down and select "Block this Caller".
Additionally, you can use a call-blocking app such as Should I Answer?, Hiya, or Truecaller. These apps can provide additional features to block unwanted calls. However, keep in mind that they may ask for sensitive information.
If you are receiving political text messages, there are a few options to reduce or block them. You can reply with "STOP" and then block the number. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Messages and turn on "Filter Unknown Senders". This will send texts from unknown numbers to a separate tab. Unfortunately, you cannot block texts from unknown numbers on iPhones, but this will help organize and filter them.
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Political call scams
Political calls on iPhones are made by a political party, candidate, or organization related to campaigns, polls, or elections. While some of these calls are legitimate, scammers also use them to prey on potential victims. These scams often take the form of political robocalls and automated political text messages. They try to inspire panic or anxiety and usually cite consequences. They might ask for your credit card number, Social Security number, or other personal information.
Scammers use analytics to target areas with a high concentration of older adults, such as Florida. They pose as political volunteers and lure voters into donating money. They might also tell you that you can register to vote by phone, which is not permitted anywhere in the United States, if you supply a Social Security number. Scammers are experts at social engineering and can tell a convincing story. It is best not to give anything to someone over a phone call, be it information or money.
Legitimate political calls and texts, such as those from actual campaigns or nonprofit groups, must follow certain rules. For example, they are required to get your prior express consent to contact you on a mobile device, unless they manually dial your number to send a text message. Political robocalls and texts are exempt from National Do Not Call Registry requirements but must follow specific rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
If you receive a political call or text that doesn't comply with the rules, you can lodge a complaint with the FCC. You can also block specific numbers on your iPhone by going to the Phone app, finding the number in your Recents or Contacts, tapping the "i" icon, scrolling down, and selecting "Block this Caller". Alternatively, you can enable "Do Not Disturb" mode and adjust the settings to block incoming calls during certain hours, including political calls.
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Legality of political calls
Political calls and texts are exempt from the National Do Not Call list requirements. However, they must follow rules set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
The FCC rules state that campaigns cannot call your cell phone with auto-dialed or pre-recorded voice calls without your consent. They can, however, call your landline with an auto-dialed or pre-recorded voice message without your consent. Pre-recorded messages must start with the identity of the person or entity making the call and must include the telephone number of the caller. Campaigns are not permitted to send texts using auto-dialing, but they can send manually dialed texts without prior consent.
The TCPA restricts political calls and texts using an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) or pre-recorded messages without Prior Express Consent (PEC) from the called party. PEC is granted when a person knowingly releases their phone number as a means of being called, and the call is closely related to the purpose for which consent was given. For example, providing a phone number for voter registration does not grant consent to political callers because the number is given to the voter registration organization, not individual campaigns or political callers. Political callers must maintain proof of PEC for every call, and a called party can revoke consent at any time.
Violations of the TCPA can result in penalties of $500 per call, increasing to $1500 for willful violations. The FCC does not resolve individual complaints, but they use this information to inform policy decisions and potential enforcement actions.
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Why you might be identified as a political caller
A political call on an iPhone is a call made by a political party, candidate, or organization related to campaigns, polls, or elections. During an election season, it is likely there will be an increase in calls and texts from political campaigns. While campaign calls and texts are exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry requirements, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) contains specific rules they must follow.
- During election seasons, there is a surge in political calls and texts from political campaigns. Your number might be misidentified as a political caller due to the increased volume of such calls and the potential use of similar numbers or caller ID spoofing.
- Your phone number may have been used by someone else or spoofed to make political calls. This could result in your number being flagged and reported as a political caller by recipients or anti-spam systems.
- In some cases, your number might be incorrectly listed in a database as one used for political calls. This could be due to a technical error or an issue with your telecom provider, which they may not have access to fix.
- If you are using a new number that was previously associated with political calling, it could take some time for the number to be removed from political calling lists and databases.
- If you are making a high volume of outgoing calls, especially to strangers, your number might be flagged as suspicious or associated with political calling, especially during election seasons when such activities are more prevalent.
If you believe you are being incorrectly identified as a political caller, you can try contacting your telecom provider for assistance or use a third-party robocall and spam text blocker to manage your caller ID settings.
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Frequently asked questions
A political call on an iPhone is a call made by a political party, candidate, or organization related to campaigns, polls, or elections.
You can enable “Do Not Disturb” mode on your iPhone, where you can block incoming calls during certain hours, including political calls. You can also try using a third-party robocall and spam text blocker, which uses call data or reports from users to predict and intercept illegal or scam calls.
It depends. Consumer protection rules regulate what senders of political messages are allowed to do, and the restrictions differ from other types of robocalls or spam texts. For example, the FCC’s Rules for Political Campaign Calls and Texts require prior express consent for political campaigns to contact you on a mobile device, unless they manually dial your number.
This is likely due to caller ID spoofing, where spammers change the number that shows on your caller ID.
Your number may have been spoofed by someone who used it to spam people, and then someone flagged it as a political call.
