Blocking Robo Calls
Those spam calls that we get on our mobile phones are enough to drive you crazy, aren’t they? I can’t even begin to tell you how many I get in a day, but there are usually 4-5. It seems like they are attacking me. What can we do about blocking robocalls?
What Is a RoboCall?
According to DoNotPay, “a robocall is a recorded message delivered in the form of a telephone call. The caller is not a real person, but a machine and the system uses automatic dialing to reach your number. Most robocallers use real people to record the messages, so hearing a bot voice on the other end of the line is rare.”
Never Give Up
You can bet that the robocallers are just getting more aggressive by the day. You might be tempted to laugh at some of their silliness; however, most of the time, they are just a distraction that you just don’t need. So, let’s look into blocking robocalls.
Blocking Robo Calls Options
The first option you can consider for blocking robocalls is by blocking individual numbers one by one. Sounds tedious, doesn’t it? It might actually be pretty hopeless if your aim is to completely stop robocalls. If there is one phone number that is consistently a pain, then this option will work well.
The Verge recommends the following:
- On iOS, just go to the Phone app, then your Recents, tap the blue information icon to the right of the number you want to block, and select “Block this Caller.”
- For Android, the process isn’t much different: go to the Recents section of the Phone app, long press on the bothersome number, and choose “Block / report spam.”
Another option you can try is to contact your carrier and ask them (or pay them) to prevent robocalls for you. Most of the carriers will take steps to help you out.
The third option is to arm yourself with one of the third-party apps that are available. Three notables are:
Nomorobo – According to their website, they were the winner of the FTC Robocall Challenge. Their claim is that they are easy, flexible, and accurate.
RoboKiller – RoboKiller automatically blocks over 1.1 million telemarketers and robocalls from ringing your phone – even if they spoof or change their numbers. They do have a 7-day free trial.
Hiya – Their voice performance platform stops spammers, blocks fraudsters, and enables businesses to connect with their customers again.
> One more option is to allow your mobile OS to protect you. Android has their own built-in options for pinpointing those pesky robocalls. iOS 13 has an app called Silence Unknown Callers. This will block any callers that you have not added to your contact list, you’ve never been in contact with, or even haven’t texted. Those calls are sent straight to voicemail. Activate it by selecting Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers.
> The last and most severe option is to set your iOS or Android’s Do Not Disturb mode. This specifies you only want calls from people in your contacts list. The only problem with this is that you are undoubtedly going to miss some of those calls you really want.
The Verge also mentioned more tips that will help you in blocking robocalls.
It’s a shame, but it’s unlikely that you will be able to be successful in blocking all those annoying robocalls – but using one of the recommendations above will help you be closer to being successful.
Megabite has more information on Hiya that has good information. If all else fails, you can always go after those robocallers with the DoNotPay app.
#robocalls #automatedtelephonecalls #spamcalls
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This post was written by Megabite
