Community Chat

[handygal2]

The subject of robocalls seems to hit a nerve with most of us. Here's an article from USA Today that offers some advice that might be helpful:

by Jennifer Jolly

My smartphone rings. It’s a number I don’t recognize. I ignore it, and the caller leaves a message, “You will be taken under custody by the local cops,” says a robotic-sounding female voice.

I know right away that it’s a scam, likely one of a half-dozen calls I’ll get today. And it’s not even noon yet.

Consumers get an estimated 98 million robocalls daily, according to government watchdog agencies. Fraud from these unwanted calls amounts to about $9.5 billion annually. And despite some wins against robocallers last year, this year is off to a tough start.

"We continue to bring cases and shut down as many folks as we can," said attorney Janice Kopec, the Federal Trade Commission's point person on robocalls. “But sophisticated auto-dialers make it really easy for scammers to make illegal calls from anywhere in the world and hide behind fake caller ID information. They also use call spoofing to disguise calls with local phone numbers.”

More than 3 billion robocalls were placed last month alone, according to the YouMail Robocall Index.

“So far, March has been the worst we’ve ever seen,” YouMail CEO Alex Quilici says. “We estimate there was more than 100 million made a day. That’s an astonishing number of robocalls."

So, what are we to do? Do those spam blocker apps even work? Is the trusty “just don’t answer” advice outdated?

Turn to your phone

A few phone makers now offer built-in alerts for when a call is probably a fraud.

Samsung's Smart Call alerts you if the number that’s calling is a known robocaller. Smart Call comes with new Samsung Galaxy phones starting with the S7 and includes the Note 8.

Google’s spam blocker doesn’t have a particular name, but it’s even more powerful. On Google’s Pixel phones, the default Google Phone app lights up your screen with a bright red warning telling you not to answer the spam calls. It’s already a great feature, but a new update rolling out soon makes it even better by sending spam calls straight to voicemail and never bothering you with them.

If you don’t have a Pixel phone, you can still download the Google Phone app for Android, which will replace your current Android calling app, and get the same great features.

Let your carrier handle it

Wireless carriers are sick and tired of robocalls, too. All the major carriers now have their own apps to stop spam calls, and most of them are free with your plan.

AT&T: Call Protect (iOS, Android, free)

AT&T’s app can auto-block suspected fraud calls and alert you if a caller is likely a robocall spammer. If you find a spammer using a number that wasn’t picked up, you can easily block them manually as well.

Verizon: Caller Name ID (iOS, Android, free)

Caller Name ID offers alerts for suspected spam callers before you bother to answer, as well as marks new spam numbers and shares blocked spam numbers with people on your contact list who also have the app.

T-Mobile: Scam Block (Android, pre-installed, free)

T-Mobile customers with Android phones get a handy scam-blocker built right into their phones. The feature (which you enable by dialing #662#) automatically blocks known scam call numbers without any additional setup. A second helpful app, also preinstalled on T-Mobile smartphones running Android, is called Name ID. It labels unknown numbers as possible spam if they’ve been reported in the past.

Sprint: Premium Caller ID (iOS, Android, $2.99/Month)

Unlike the previous three carriers, Sprint’s solution to spam call blocking is a bit different. It’s a paid monthly service that lets you register your name. This helps the carrier figure out who is a real caller so that it can alert you of potential spammers and robocallers. It works with any iOS or Android phone on Sprint’s network, and you don’t have to install any additional apps.

Download an app

Apps such as Nomorobo, Truecaller, Hiya, RoboKiller and YouMail really can cull the stream of con-artist calls. Many of the apps are free for at least a week, then cost around $2 a month or nearly $20 a year after that. (The apps present this to you as “upgrades” or “premium,” which you inevitably want to ditch ads or get the best the tech has to offer.)

I’ve used all of them and really like AT&T’s free Call Protect, as well as Nomorobo, for how simple they are overall. Nomorobo stops working well every three to four months, but if I go into the settings and “refresh” it, it gets better at screening out scam calls again. YouMail is also great because it delivers a message to known scammers that your number is out of service, which takes the target off your head. At least for now.

Use the Do Not Call Registry

As much as it might feel like it doesn’t help, it’s still a good practice to add your numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry. If your number is on the registry and you do get unwanted calls, report them. Basically, this gives the good-guys at least one way to fight the bad guys, who have plenty of incentive to keep trying.

"It's a sheer numbers game, and the economics are simple. (The robocallers) only need the scam to hit a small percentage to fall victim for it to be profitable," says Truecaller's head of growth, Nick Larson.

[chrystaltree]

I refuse to worry or think about things that I have no control over.  What's the point?  My cell phone company is doing an excellent job of identitying junk calls and I'm grateful for that.  The phone rings and I see "Likely a scam call" and they block the call.  Sometimes it says "Junk Call" and they block it. I don't pay for the service and I never asked for it.     Some still get through but I don't answer weird numbers, I just hang up and block that number.   I don't use my landline, my fax machine is hooked up to that but I do see the multitude of nuisance calls that come to that number as they flash on my tv.  Not using that landline for calls was one of the best decisions of my life.    

[Mz iMac]

I rarely get scam calls.  I get maybe 1 or 2 a month if that many.

I have a landline w/a built-in "talk ID" answering machine.  My ringer is "off."

I have FIOS.  If a scam call comes through, the ID will say "SCAM" in caps.  Also, if my tv is on, all calls will pop up on the tv screen.

My message:  "All calls are screened."

I never owned a cell phone.

[Montana]

I think not answering is still a good strategy. It has worked for me.  A while back, I started getting debt collection robocalls calls every day. I never answered because I don’t have any debts. They kept calling, leaving voicemails but I never responded to any of them.

This went on for about a year. Then the collection calls got fewer and fewer and eventually stopped altogether. 

I still get other robocalls and I don’t answer them either.

[BirkiLady]

@handygal2 @ Montana @Mz iMac @chrystaltree  Apparently something new has been initiated within the past few weeks: I've received a couple of robocalls (which I picked up while ironing and didn't look at the caller ID). Both provided the option of hitting a key to be removed from their own "Do Not Call" . . . so I did so and haven't had any more calls from Bridget of a credit card company or a TV cable company. Don't know if a new law has been passed or if they are ahead of the curve. I do believe laws are coming.

[Spurt]

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@BirkiLady wrote:

@handygal2 @ Montana @Mz iMac @chrystaltree  Apparently something new has been initiated within the past few weeks: I've received a couple of robocalls (which I picked up while ironing and didn't look at the caller ID). Both provided the option of hitting a key to be removed from their own "Do Not Call" . . . so I did so and haven't had any more calls from Bridget of a credit card company or a TV cable company. Don't know if a new law has been passed or if they are ahead of the curve. I do believe laws are coming.

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@BirkiLady

If you get a robocall and they give you an option to hit a key or number to opt out....DONT DO IT.....that just tells the robo people that your number is good so hey will continue calling and may sell your number to other telemarketers......

Here's a couple of articles---

FCC on how to eliminate annoying robocalls FCC rules are designed to protect consumers, but the onslaught continues

Last updated: April 19, 2017 03:30 PM

On a single day in mid-December, Nancy Duke’s phone rang three times with the same pre-recorded sales pitch. It claimed that the Elgin, Texas, resident could win $3,000 worth of groceries if she’d answer a few questions. “Each time, I hit the 5 key to opt out and got a message that they were removing my number from their list,” she said, “only to get the same call again an hour or two later.”

https://consumerist.com/2013/08/27/please-dont-press-any-buttons-when-you-get-a-scammy-robocall/

Here's from the link:

"If you receive one of these automated calls, especially one from a company you’ve never heard of or never done business with, you’re often presented with two options: press “1” to speak to a customer service rep (though the people on the phone are usually doing you a disservice), or press “2” to be removed from the caller’s list of customers.

Pressing “2” may work, but more than likely it does nothing more than end the call; and you’ll probably continue receiving calls. In some cases, it may actually put you on additional scam-bait lists, because the caller at least knows that it reached an active line owned by someone willing to pick up when an unfamiliar number calls."

[NickNack]

I'm getting so sick of these calls on my cell phone.  I never answer my home phone when I don't recognize the number but have several things going on and feel like I do have to answer my cell phone.  I hang up on them the minute they start talking.  I can block calls on both phones, but they just use a different number and call back.  

I didn't realize that AT&T had Call Protect.  Unfortunately it starts with the iPhone 6, and I still have the 5S.  I don't usually upgrade until I need to, but it might be worth doing it for that if it works.  I'll have to read reviews on it.

[NickNack]

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@NickNack wrote:

I'm getting so sick of these calls on my cell phone.  I never answer my home phone when I don't recognize the number but have several things going on and feel like I do have to answer my cell phone.  I hang up on them the minute they start talking.  I can block calls on both phones, but they just use a different number and call back.  

I didn't realize that AT&T had Call Protect.  Unfortunately it starts with the iPhone 6, and I still have the 5S.  I don't usually upgrade until I need to, but it might be worth doing it for that if it works.  I'll have to read reviews on it.

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I just wanted to add to my post that I read that AT&T Call Protect uses Hiya, which is a free call blocking app.  I looked up reviews on that, and they're excellent, so I downloaded it.  I'm so glad you posted this @handygal2.  These calls on my cell phone really irritate me.

[BirkiLady]

@Spurt  Well that certainly deflated my hopes!! Thanks for the warning. I'll be very cautious when the phone begins to ring tomorrow (Monday) morning. Cwap!