Putting an end to robocalls isn’t something that’s going to happen overnight, but there are steps you can take to silence those annoying, and sometimes dangerous, calls.
My phone receives countless annoying calls every week, some of them with caller ID that shows a local business name. I answer each call only to hear a recording letting me know my car’s warranty has expired, or there’s a warrant for my arrest due to an issue with my Social Security number or that I owe the IRS money.It’s frustrating, and I can’t imagine how many more calls I would receive if I weren’t using some of the same tips and tricks outlined below. The scammers are persistent and constantly changing their methods.
These calls are not only annoying but potentially dangerous should you fall for one of the scams. They’re designed to swindle you out of your hard-earned money. Thankfully, the government, wireless carriers and phone-makers are working on ways to eliminate the annoying and seemingly nonstop calls we all receive on a daily basis.
For example, all four major US carriers offer some level of free spam call blocking. At the end of 2019, then-President Trump signed into law the Traced Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that gives government agencies and law enforcement more power to dismantle robocalls by targeting the perpetrators.
Specifically, the Traced Act extends the statute of limitations for law enforcement to go after bad actors, increases penalties and requires phone companies to authenticate calls and determine if the phone number that is calling you is real.
Wireless carrier networks have started using Shaken/Stir technology to identify and block spam calls, not only on their own respective networks, but between phone providers as well. Apple even added a feature to iOS 13 that lets you prevent unknown callers from ever ringing your phone. Google has expanded the Call Screen feature to route suspected spam calls to Google Assistant before your phone even rings, and with the launch of Android 11 in late 2020, it expanded robocall identification and prevention features to extend outside of the default Android Phone app.
It’s going to take time for the Traced Act to be put into effect across all agencies and phone providers, so don’t expect to see a dramatic decrease in unwanted calls overnight.
Keep in mind, too, that not every automated solicitation is considered illegal. Calls from political campaigns, debt collectors and charities are all permissible. What’s not allowed are the calls from the fake IRS agents threatening you or the companies that claim you won a free vacation that you never signed up for.
While it isn’t possible to entirely keep robocalls from reaching your phone, there are some steps you can take to reduce the number of calls you receive. This article is periodically updated.
Best practices to keep annoying robocalls at bay
According to the 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.
Apple’s iOS 13, released last year, 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. Any legitimate callers can leave a message. And that’s the rub: We often receive important calls from numbers we don’t store on our phones, so you could miss important calls this way. But if all else fails and you’re desperate to stop robocalls, this is a valid option.
If you find yourself receiving a lot of spam text messages, you can forward the message to the number 7726 (which spells “spam”). It won’t stop the number from texting you right away, but it will allow your carrier to look into where it came from and put an end to it.
Check with your provider
All four major wireless carriers offer some sort of call blocking feature. All have a free option and a premium tier. But let’s be honest, all robocall blocking services should be free. This shouldn’t be a way for carriers to make some money off of us.
Use a third-party app
If your provider doesn’t offer an app or service to cut back on robocalls, or does but it’s too expensive, there are plenty of third-party apps available. You want to find an app that works on your device, offers automatic call blocking and spam alerts for suspicious calls and makes it easy to report a number if a call slips through.
Hiya is a free app I have used on Android and iOS for some time now with success. It’s from the same company that powers AT&T’s Call Protect app, as well as Samsung’s built-in call block and spam protection service. Samsung Galaxy owners can enable the built-in service in the Phone app under Settings > Caller ID and Spam Protection. Setup is painless, and it offers an easy way to report a number.
Another option is to sign up for a free Google Voice phone number that you can use to sign up for things instead of giving out your real number — and once the robocalls start coming in on that Google Voice number, use the block feature. Just know that blocking calls may end up being a lot of work, as robocallers are constantly spoofing different phone numbers.
None of the above solutions is perfect, and likely none of them will be until carriers integrate the technology required to check for caller ID spoofing, so right now you have to do some extra work to keep the number of robocalls you receive to a minimum. Between being cautious about calls from unknown numbers and using a service (paid or free), you can reduce the number of unwanted calls and spam you have to deal with.
And again, carriers have started using Shaken/Stir technology to verify callers, which should cut down on the number of robocalls we all receive. For those with an iPhone, learn where the setting is to block unknown callers, but remember using it could mean you miss calls from doctors’ offices and the like. And for those with a Pixel phone, Google’s Call Screen feature will surely help, and may even entertain you.
Cipriani, Jason. To read full article: “How to Stop Robocalls: Every way we Know to Block Annoying Scam Calls” CNET March 2021