How to fight back against robocalls and calls from scammersOne of my biggest pet peeves is unsolicited phone calls and robocalls. They drive me batty, and at one point they were so bad that they drove me and Natalie to cancel our home line (we now just use our cell phones) because we were sick and tired of the phone waking newborn Jack. We initially tried all kinds of tricks, like turning the phone in his room off and using blocking software, but even they didn’t fully solve the problem. It was just too much, so we canceled it.

These kinds of calls are even worse in Canada, where we spend a lot of time. Up there, there are usually actual live people on the other end so I can at least have some fun with them. For example: I sometimes keep them on the phone for ten minutes or more, going along with the sales pitch and then asking the person to hold while I ask my wife, then just putting the phone down for a couple of minutes. Every few minutes I jump back on to say, “Just hold on, she’s still thinking about it,” and repeat until the person finally hangs up all pissed off—and me all happy because I prevented him or her from calling others for at least that amount of time.

Well, get this: There’s now an app—appropriately called RoboKiller—that basically does all of the above for $3/month (there’s also a seven-day free trial). It’s very highly rated in the App Store, with a 4.6 out from 101,000+ people. In the Google Play Store, it has three stars with just 1,800 ratings (maybe it works better with iPhones, I’m not sure).

In any case, RoboKiller is so good that it won the FTC’s anti-robocall competition. What’s really great about the service is its uncanny ability to show you exactly who is calling before you answer. RoboKiller promises to reduce unwanted calls by up to 90% in 30 days. It also takes the hassle out of getting the calls you do want, with true, real-time caller ID, so you can stop guessing who’s on the other end of your calls. RoboKiller’s caller ID turns phone numbers into names, addresses and even photos of the people calling you. No more annoying cutting and pasting, trying to figure out who’s on the phone after the call is already over.

Note: RoboKiller works on Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, C Spire, Cricket, and MetroPCS. It’s not currently supported by US Cellular.

Have you used RoboKiller? Do you recommend it or another service?

H/T to KTLA.

 

7 Comments On "How to Fight Back Against Robocalls and Calls From Scammers"
  1. James Cook|

    Thanks for sharing this information. I have just read at https://www.lemberglaw.com/what-are-robocalls/ a little bit about robocalls. I think we should have been quite familiar with these robocalls, since telemarketers and scammers have been using these methods even since years ago. I personally choose to just ignore them. Fighting them back is a waste of time.

  2. jimmy|

    It’s time to stop pretending these apps actually work and demand that the phone companies and the FCC step up and do something! When the spammers call from a different number each time, it’s completely impossible to block them. Not to mention the fact that I’d you use an Android phone that uses the old style of voicemail, even if the call is blocked, you still get the voicemail! This piece was clearly written by someone who was paid to promote the app.

    1. Johnny Jet|

      You couldn’t be any farther from the truth. Don’t even know the people. If I was getting paid to promote the app it would’ve stated sponsored.

  3. Marty Cohn|

    I use jollyrogertelephone.com for my Google Voice and VOIP lines. It uses simultaneous ring and a 3rd party CNAME service to evaluate the likelihood a given # is a junk call, then it answers with a bot that attempts to engage the caller and keep him/her on the line.

    For $12 a year, it’s worth every penny.

    1. Johnny Jet|

      Great to know! Thank you

  4. Billy|

    I’m not going to pay $36 per year for this service. I’ll continue to block unknown numbers until the FCC steps up and does something about this nuisance.

  5. Steve Lipson|

    I think we should always answer robo calls and be transferred to a representative. At that point, either engage them in conversation or just leave an open line. Keep a calm voice and talk or not talk. doesn’t matter. just waste their time. If every call was answered, they’d have to abandon that tactic.

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