Increase in Unsolicited Faxes Clogs Office Fax Machines for Multiple Professionals
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Hey there! Today we're talking about an old problem with a modern twist - junk faxes. You might've thought fax machines were long gone, replaced by email and the internet. But in some corners of the world, they're still hanging on, and that's where the trouble starts.
(Sound of a fax machine buzzing and beeping)
That's Diane Rosa, working at a pharmacy in New York City. She says her fax machine still gets used every day, and most of those messages are junk. So, how many times a week does this thing go off, you ask? Well, as much as once or twice a day, and around 90% of those faxes are spam.
Dr. Bruce Katz, a dermatologist in New York, can relate. He's drowning in junk faxes. He gets about 60 or 70 faxes a day, but half of them are spam, advertising things like roofing companies or who-knows-what else. And it's not just annoying - it can be downright dangerous. Katz had to postpone a surgery once because his staff accidentally threw out a blood test result that got lost amid the junk faxes. Enough is enough, he says, and he's going to sue these companies.
Now, you might think that this is a problem of the past, that nobody actually uses fax machines anymore. But according to data from the FCC, junk faxes are actually on the rise. Last year, people made 40% more complaints about them than in 2022.
If you're still receiving junk faxes and don't want any more, there are options. You can sue the senders under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which allows consumers to sue for $500 per page. Or, you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. Some modern fax machines even have junk fax blocking capabilities.
But what if suing isn't an option, or if the spam keeps coming anyway? Well, then you might take a page out of John Etkins' book. way back in the '80s, he was getting junk faxes at work. So, when he got an electronics ad, he taped four sheets of paper together in a loop, wrote a stern message, and faxed it back to the spammer. He let that run as long as he could, and eventually, the spam stopped.
In the end, fax spam might not be as common as digital spam like phishing emails, but it's still a problem for some people. And while the FCC hasn't released any latest statistics on junk faxes, legal battles and settlements throughout the years show that this issue is far from resolved. So, if you're still dealing with junk faxes, don't despair. There are options out there to help you clean up your fax machine.
- Despite the rise of email and internet, news about junk faxes still surfaces, a problem that persists even in the modern era of technology.
- In the realm of technology news, an interesting solution to combat junk faxes came from John Etkins in the '80s - using creative means like looping a message to deter spammers.
