Somebody Please Make These Robocalls Just Go Away
I'm not sure what's the reason for the ramped up number of robocalls, but whatever it is, for the love of God could they please stop?!?
It's gotten so bad that an estimated one out of every seven calls made in the United States are from these automated robot voices.
The company Robocall Index says that about 2.2 billion robocalls were made in December.
How do you make it stop? Well, it sounds that you can't but you can slow things down by signing up for the National Do Not Call Registry. The problem is that not every company abides by the rules.
Great!
Technology makes it easy and cheap to call thousands of people at once. The calls appear to be legit with a local area code but are often made from out of the country.
“Calls are being placed over the internet,” tech consultant Nam Nguyen said. “They are using a program that locks into a number and, for example New Orleans, a 504 area code. It makes it seem a little more legitimate to perhaps get people to pick up the phone.”
According to Nguyen, apps can help slow down the calls. Applications like Nomorobo and Hiya get users to identify robocalls and block the number from not only their phone but every other person using the app.
The Better Business Bureau has warned of the new scam where the caller asks, "can you hear me okay?" They want you to say yes after you've already stated your name, and then they can do a lot of different things with that.
Many experts have one simple suggestion when it comes to these robocalls - simply ignore the call.