Robo Calls are Big Business

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.

Robo Calls Getting Worse

Does it seem like we are getting more unwanted calls on smart phones? We are, and they are more and more difficult to stop. We are now in the phase where bad technology leapfrogs good technology and until that changes again, it is something to deal with.

US Federal Trade Commission data released during December 2017 shows a massive 4.5 million consumer complaints about robocalls in 2017, up from 2016's 3.4 million. For every single month of the year, robocalls topped the list of "Do Not Call" violations.
The six most common ones in no particular order include:
Reducing your debt (credit cards, mortgage, student loans)
Dropped call or no message
Vacation and timeshares
Warranties and protection plans
Calls pretending to be government, IRS, businesses, or family and friends
Medical and prescriptions.
In addition to all the complaints, use of the "Do Not Call" registry hosts 226 million active registrations.
The reason for the increase is the cheap new telephony equipment, ease of placing millions of calls without a person needed to do the dialing, and  digital calling systems that make it simple to automatically spoof caller ID numbers. Robo calls are becoming the 'Nigerian Prince' scam for phones.

Incidentally, the worst thing you can do is respond. The bad guys have no do not call list to put you on and no reason to stop calling. Also, once you respond, your number goes into the bank of live persons and your number will be sold to other scammers. Robo call apps help blocking, but cannot keep up with the ever shifting use of numbers used, including what appear to be local numbers.