Raleigh salon reports 50 daily robocalls despite carrier filters

Residents in the Triangle region of North Carolina report that standard Do Not Call Registry entries and carrier blocking features are failing to stop daily waves of unwanted robocalls. These interruptions are disrupting medical routines and consuming significant portions of the workday for local businesses.

Matt Hedgpeth, who is battling stage four cancer, receives calls in clusters between 7:30 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. He told ABC11 Troubleshooter Diane Wilson that the timing makes it difficult to ignore unknown numbers. He worries that missing a call from a medical provider could mean losing a chance to schedule an earlier brain MRI or another time-sensitive treatment appointment.

In Raleigh, Chuck Powell, owner of Total Hair, says the business receives 40 to 50 spam calls in a single day. Powell stated that answering these calls consumes nearly two hours of the workday. He has contacted his phone carrier multiple times to address the issue, but the problem persists.

Powell noted that the carrier installed filters on both of the shop’s phone lines. He said the measures have made little difference. Some calls use spoofed numbers to appear legitimate, with caller ID displaying the names of actual customers who are not calling. Powell described the tactic as an attempt to trick employees into picking up the phone.

The phone carrier serving both Hedgpeth and Total Hair confirmed it is actively investigating both cases. The company cited customer privacy as the reason it could not share specific details. It stated that it uses federally required technology to block calls with a high probability of being illegal. It also employs STIR/SHAKEN technology to authenticate caller ID data and combat spoofing.

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is leading a bipartisan coalition of 49 attorneys general. The group is urging the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen requirements for keeping illegal robocalls off the telephone network. Consumers in the state can also report suspected illegal robocalls directly to the North Carolina Department of Justice.