Consumers get an estimated
98 million robocalls daily, according to the US government.
Fraud from these unwanted calls amounts to about $9.5 billion
annually. More than 3 billion robocalls were placed during
March, 2018, according to the YouMail Robocall Index. In
addition, the FCC gets about 200,000 complaints about robocalls
each year, and the FTC received 4.5 million complaints about
unwanted calls during 2017.
During 2017, the FCC gave phone companies the ability to block
numbers they know are attempting to send spoofed calls that look
as if they are local calls. And the agency also began a process
to improve caller ID so calls could have "a verified digital
fingerprint" to ensure a caller was legit.
Most of the big carriers offer a free call protection app,
except Sprint, which costs $2.99 a month.
There are hundreds of apps such as Hiya, Nomorobo, RoboKiller,
Truecaller, and YouMail that work. Look at the rating and read
user comments before downloading any app. You can block numbers
on your phone, but the major bad guys keep changing their number
so it does not help much. However it is good for blocking local
business that keep calling to sell services.
I have not found any app that blocks the call and locks the
caller out of voice mail. This is the most aggravating part for
me. I want one that blocks the call and blocks voice mail at the
same time.
Incidentally, YouMail operates a Robocall Index that compiles
the scope and location of the worst robocalling hotspots
across the country by area code, and Atlanta leads the list.