Montana Man in Trouble For Almost 5,000 Harassing Robocalls

Is there anything worse than your phone ringing and when you look down at your screen it's an unknown number? You know it's an unsolicited and unwanted call, most likely automated, that wants to ask about your car warranty or tell you about different healthcare options. But if you're like me, curiosity wins and you can't help but answer and hope it's the one time there will be someone worthwhile on the other end. Well, one Montana man is in a bit of trouble for being the one on the other end of the phone for almost 5,000 calls.

Not quite an "is your refrigerator running?" call

I guess when I asked if there was anything worse than those unwanted mystery calls the answer is yes. That would be when the unknown mystery calls are done in a harassing way with inflammatory messages. A Montana Right Now story says a man from Libby thought it would make sense to robocall more than 4,900 people and spread some hate.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) says in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, the government alleged that 52-year-old Scott Rhodes made 4,958 illegal robocalls with falsified caller ID information, with the intent to cause harm.

Insults included mentions of race and religion

In one instance, more than 2,000 calls were made to a town in Virginia where Rhodes made derogatory comments and commentary about the local Mayor and Police Chief on the heels of a local crime in the community.

Sheesh, as if it's not bad enough to get unwanted calls from scammers and corporations, now you throw individuals in the mix.

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What a crazy story! Check out all the details for yourself in the link above. I guess the best option truly is to not pick up when you suspect it might be an unwanted caller on the other end of the phone.