26.3 billion robocalls made in US last year 46 percent more than 2017

A newly released report compiled by Hiya, an app that monitors spam calls found that 26.3 billion robocalls were made to US phone numbers last year. This is a 46 percent rise from the 18 billion made in 2017.

The average person received 10 spam calls a month. The top area codes targeted were from Texas, with 214 Dallas, 817 Forth Worth, and 210 San Antonio at the top of the list.

Complaints to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Though the data is alarming, the FTC Commission on the Do-Not-Call registry, reported a decrease in filed complaints in 2018. During the period from October 2017 to September 2018 the registry received about 5.7 million complaints, with 3.8 being robocalls and another 1.9 million live callers. In 2017 there were 7.1 million complaints with 4.5 being robocalls.

Even though the total number of complaints went down the percentage of robocalls increased from about 63 percent of the total to 66 percent. The most common robocalls dealt with debt reduction, medical prescriptions, and impostors.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) claims it had more than 52,000 complaints about caller ID spoofing in 2016 alone. Wikipedia describes called ID spoofing as follows: "Caller ID spoofing is the practice of causing the telephone network to indicate to the receiver of a call that the originator of the call is a station other than the true originating station. For example, a caller ID display might display a phone number different from that of the telephone from which the call was placed. The term is commonly used to describe situations in which the motivation is considered malicious by the originator."

The Do-Not-Call registry has not helped stop robocalls

The Verge reports: "While the Do Not Call Registry was established in 2003, the volume of calls has still grown significantly in recent years. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revealed to The Verge last year that it’s fielding an average of around 500,000 complaints a month over robocalls. The problem has led to some consumers filing lawsuits under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) if they receive calls when they’re listed on the Do Not Call Registry."

Attempts to solve problem

There has been some pressure on the US federal government to solve the problem. However both the FTC and the FCC had been affected by the partial government shutdown. However, a Senate bill has been introduced that could hit robocallers with a $10,000 fine for every robocall. In November 2018 Ajit Pai, FCC chair called on carriers to adopt the SHAKEN/STIR protocol which functions as a type of caller identification. T-Mobile has been the first US carrier to implement the protocol. On mobile phones users will see a "caller verified" notice in supported phones.

Previously published in DIgital Journal

EBay shares fall on lower earnings outlook

((January  30) Even though eBay Inc. did well in the fourth quarter and also introduced its first ever dividend this was overshadowed by the forecast for the March quarter which was below estimates and disappointing growth in revenues during the holiday quarter.

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The negatives

The shares were down a full one percent in after hours trading subsequent to a move up after the company announced it would be paying a dividend of 14 cents a share each quarter.

The company is facing demands from activist shareholders that they sell some divisions and restructure as the company is facing fierce competition from other online retailers such as Amazon.

Even though more buyers are using the eBay platform the company reported consumer spending was slow during the busy shopping period.

Detailed figures presented a bit more optimistically can be found here, with the article pointing out: "Gross revenues of $2.87 billion increased 6.3% year over year (up 6% on an Fx-neutral basis) and were within the guided range of $2.85-$2.89 billion. Moreover, revenues surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.86 billion. The company continues to leverage its structured data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve user experience on its platform. Notably, this aided in growth of active buyers on its platform, which drove GMV. Further, robust growth of Advertising and Payment platform drove eBay’s top-line growth."

CEO claims company to boost volume in the longer term

Although eBay CEO Devin Wenig predicted that there would be pressure on the company's gross merchandise volume (GMV), that is the value of all the products sold on its website because it had reduced some marketing expenditures, he was sure that the company would benefit from new sales and a payments initiative that would boost GMV over the longer term. Wenig said in a conference call with analysts: “We believe that the actions we’re taking in ‘19 will set us up well."

Some figures

The company forecast revenue of $2.55 billion to $2.60 billion for the current quarter. Analysts had a target of $2.66 billion.

GMV rose just one percent in the December quarter again missing analysts' estimates. Also, it dipped in the US.

However, it was not all bad news as the last quarter of 2018 showed that eBay's sales actually climbed 6.8 percent year over year reaching $2.88 billion actually bettering estimates.

The number of users of eBay also has grown. At the end of December the company had 179 million active buyers, an increase of about 2 million above the previous quarter. The company also increased its share buybacks by a huge $4 billion after pressure from activist investors.

eBay’s quarterly profit reached $763 million, compared with a loss of $2.6 billion a year earlier, when eBay recorded a one-time expense of more than $3 billion.

Tom Forte, an analyst at D.A. Davidson said: “The hope for eBay, in my opinion, is their ability to supplement the marketplace with advertising and a growing payments business, but I think the core marketplace is still a challenged business.”

Previously published on Digital Journal