Automated robocalls, such as those which we have all received from “Rachel from card services” that try to induce us to get a new credit card or any other service are a scam that has been with us for many years and despite the best efforts of the Federal Trade Commission, still is victimizing many people.  The calls sound legitimate and if you are not sufficiently skeptical, you can end up having your identity stolen or scammed out of money for a worthless product being sold.  It is easy to identify a robocall that is a scam.  If you get a robocall, it is a scam.  Commercial robocalls are illegal.  In 2013 I reported to you about  how the FTC, in an effort to combat robocalls held a contest with a $50,000 prize to the person who came up with the best solution to stop robocalls. The winners that year were Aaron Foss and Serdar Danis who split the prize.  Their solution involved software that will filter out calls being placed by a computer or someone identified as an unwanted caller.  When you use the software, if a robocall comes in, it rings once on your phone and then your phone automatically hangs up on the call.  So all you have to do is let the phone ring and if it stops after one ring, it was a robocall.

TIPS

The software developed by Foss and Danis is now available to anyone for free for your landline and for $4.99 per month for both your landline and mobile phone.  The company providing the service is Nomorobo and you can sign up for the service at   https://www.nomorobo.com/

Long time Scamicide reader Marty Kenney recently reminded me about nomorobo.  He has used it for a long time successfully.