Senior fighting to keep his 56-year-old landline amid barrage of spam calls

A Chicago senior citizen said his phone has been ringing off the hook with hundreds of unwanted spam calls that have made his beloved landline virtually unusable. New efforts in Springfield could bring real relief.

Robocall blockers might provide relief from unwanted calls on your cell phone, but 82-year-old Joseph Turrise said protecting his beloved landline from spam calls has proven far more challenging.

"I've had it for 56 years. It's the number I know. It's a number many people know," he said.

Every time he blocks one number, a new one calls.

"I shut the ringers off now, so I live without a phone," he said.

He even started writing down the numbers to track them until that became too much.

"In the first three weeks of February, three weeks I got 178 calls," he said. "That was a total of 552 calls. All the numbers were different."

He considers the deluge of calls harassment.

"If you bought a doorbell and put the doorbell on and it began ringing all by itself, how many times would a doorbell have to ring before you disconnected it and threw it out in the middle of the street?" he said.

He contacted the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Chicago Police Department, and AT&T. He even got an answer from the company's president, but not a helpful one.

"Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts with us. We truly appreciate your passion and input," the letter from AT&T said. "At this time, no further action will be taken regarding your concern, but please note that your feedback has been noted."

During his interview with CBS News Chicago, Turrise he got a call from someone trying to sell him a medical device he didn't need — and bill it to Medicare.

It was listed as the 773 area code, but the caller said they were in Atlanta. The salesperson wouldn't give consent to be recorded, but promised to remove Turrise's number from their list.

"I am not any closer to resolving this thing. They tell me, 'Just get rid of the phone,'" Turrise said.

Illinois state Sen. Elgie R. Sims called Turrise's situation "disturbing."

Sims said incessant spam calls are impacting the quality of life for people like Turrise.

"Fifty billion of these robocalls go out every year, you know, with a 2% success rate," he said. "That exposes them to fraud, and certainly impacts their daily enjoyment of their lives."

That's why, last year, Sims tried to get legislation passed in Springfield that would bar companies from using automatic dialing to sell Illinois residents goods and services on cell phones or landlines unless the person expressly consented to being contacted in the first place.

Dozens of sponsors signed on, but it didn't get passed before the end of session. In light of Turrise's story, Sims had an update.

"That's why I'm having discussions with my colleagues, both in the Senate and in the House, about bringing that legislation back, and making sure that we get it across the finish line," he said.

Meanwhile, Turrise said, since he has no plans to give up his landline, he's determined to keep fighting.

"I'm not the criminal here. You know, I shouldn't have to run away and hide," he said. "Maybe somebody will notice it. People will say, 'Hey, that's happening to me too. Maybe I should complain too.'"