Ever get a call from a random number, answer it, and then hear an automated message on the other end talking about your car warranty or endorsing a political candidate? That’s a robocall, and it’s a menace to society. Some people get robocalled multiple times a day. That’s not surprising, considering that in 2019, theFederal Communications Commissionrevealed that US consumers were receiving about 350,000 robocalls every three minutes – nearly half of them scams.
While it’s unlikely we’ll ever be able to get rid of robocalls entirely, there are ways you can slow them down. We’ll cover a few methods in the guide below for bothiPhonesandAndroiddevices.
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What are robocalls?
The FCC classes robocalls as “calls made with an autodialer or that contain a message made with a prerecorded or artificial voice.” That’s an apt definition, especially now that calls can conceivably usegenerative AIinstead of just taped or obviously synthetic voices.
They’re often associated with telemarketing and political campaigns, as hinted earlier. Less obnoxious uses include service or emergency announcements, although text alerts are more common for that. The worst robocalls are of course scams trying to defraud you or phish personal data, like credit card info or your Social Security number. Never share that sort of info over the phone unless you’re talking to a phone number you recognize, like your bank or the US Social Security Administration.
Robocalls are almost universally despised, even by many politicians – they’re just difficult to stop, since many come from spoofed numbers or overseas.
Are robocalls illegal?
It depends on the circumstances. In the US, telemarketers can legally use robocalls if they obtain your written consent. They can’t if you don’t, or if you add your name to theNational Do Not Call Registry. Signing up for the Registry still won’t block groups like charities, political parties, debt collectors, or survey takers.
It also won’t stop scammers and spammers, who are breaking the law regardless and trying to hide their identities. The most governments can usually do is punish them when they’re caught. The US Federal Trade Commission, for instance,fined one scammer$120 million in 2018. For that reason, it’s a good idea to report illegal robocalls when you can – it may not stop the flow immediately, but it could contribute to their downfall in the long run.
How can you stop robocalls?
There are a few tools at your disposal, thankfully. What’s best will depend on your circumstances.
Manually blocking numbers
Android and iOS both offer the ability to block individual numbers. This will only help if it’s the same number(s) calling repeatedly, however.
Carrier call-blocking apps
The major US wireless carriers all offer apps that either automatically block spam calls or at least mark them as suspicious. There should be equivalents in other countries.
Third-party call-blocking apps
If you’re not happy with carrier apps or your carrier doesn’t have an app to speak of, there are plenty of alternatives in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Typically these require a subscription to unlock full functionality, but you may get some features for free – Hiya, for example, will flag suspicious numbers.
US National Do Not Call Registry
As mentioned, the FTC’sDo Not Call Registryis strictly for telemarketing calls, so you may still get calls from groups like charities and debt collectors. Scammers and spammers are simply going to ignore the Registry. In addition to putting your name on the list, you canreport abusive calls, whether or not you’re registered.
Is that all you can do?
Google Call Screen
If you own a Google Pixel phone and live in the US, Google Assistant can optionally screen calls automatically, hanging up on spam and giving you a preview in all other circumstances. To turn this on:
In the US and several other countries – such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the UK – Pixel owners can manually trigger screening. Just tapScreen callwhen a call is inbound.
