A new app called Robo Revenge goes as far as to give individuals “burner” credit cards that are being used to gather information in order to automatically file Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuits against companies calling individuals’ cell phones without their consent.
The app is the brainchild of Joshua Browder, who also created DoNotPay, dubbed the world’s “first robot lawyer,” where it is actually a legal services chatbot that helps users fight parking tickets, cancel subscriptions, and file small claims court lawsuits.
“All of the big companies like AT&T and Apple have failed to protect consumers,” Browder said in a published report. “Consumers have to protect themselves. The only way the problem will end is if the robocallers start losing money every time they call someone.”
Robo Revenge combines different features, such as automatically adding individuals to the federal Do Not Call registry and creating a DoNotPay virtual credit card that individuals can use to make payments for goods on a robocall. The transaction information is used to get the contact information for the calling party, and the app automatically creates demand letters and court filing documents for the user. The app then walks the user through how to file the lawsuit against the entity that placed the call. The lawsuits can only be filed against companies based in the United States.
“Lawyers have already been making millions suing these scammers, but the average person, who doesn’t understand the law (and doesn’t even know who is calling them), is stuck,” Browder said in the report. “Our automated process, combined with the fake credit card, gives this power back to the average person.”
