Do you remember that time when robocalls seemed to have stopped when the pandemic was at its worst? Have you noticed that the number of robocalls offering an extended warranty on your car or a zero-interest rate on a credit card you don’t have are back?
According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), there are some easy steps you can take to help reduce robocalls:
Don’t answer calls from blocked or unknown numbers.
Don’t answer calls from numbers you don’t recognize.
Don’t assume an incoming call is really from a local number just because it looks like it is.
Don’t respond to any questions that can be answered with a “Yes.”
If someone calls you and claims to be with XYZ company, hang up and call the company yourself. Use the company’s website to find an official number.
If you do answer a call and hear a recording such as, “Hello, can you hear me?” just hang up.
The same goes for a call where you’re asked to press a number before being connected to a representative.
When you answer a call and interact with the voice prompt or by pressing a number, it lets spammers know your number is real. They can then sell your number to another company or begin targeting your number more frequently.
An important step in combating unwanted calls is to list your phones on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) National Do Not Call Registry. Go to www.donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222 and register all of your telephones. This is a free service and worth a few minutes of your time to get all of your phones listed.
Check with your cell phone provider since all the major wireless carriers offer some sort of call blocking feature. All have a free option and a premium tier.
AT&T’s Call Protect app is available for iOS and Android. The free version blocks spam and fraud calls and provides nuisance warnings labels and a personal block list, and you can block all unknown callers.
Verizon’s Call Filter app is automatically enabled for Android users on a postpaid plan. The service offers spam detection, a spam filter, a call log for blocked or spam calls, the ability to allow calls from specific numbers (iOS only) and the option to report numbers for free.
T-Mobile’s Scam Shield is free to all customers and includes multiple features designed to protect you from robocalls and sharing your personal information.
Sprint’s Call Screener is now free, thanks to T-Mobile. Eventually, Sprint customers will fully migrate over to T-Mobile’s system and be able to use the full Scan Shield product offering.
Google added features to Call Screen for its Pixel phone lineup. The feature can detect robocalls and spam calls and block them for you.
With the launch of iOS 13 Apple added the option to Silence Unknown Callers, which adds the option to route calls from numbers not found in your Contacts, Mail or Messages straight to voicemail.
There are also third-party apps for blocking robocalls. Two of the more popular apps are Nomorobo which is available for both land lines and cell phones. It is free for landlines and is $1.99 per month for smartphones. It offers a 14-day free trial. Robokiller is a smart phone only app and is $24.99 with an annual contract. Robokiller offers a 7-day free trial.
