INDIANAPOLIS -- More than 11,000 Hoosiers have filed complaints about unwanted phone calls with the Indiana Attorney General’s office so far this year.
Those 8,479 complaints include gripes about robocalls, which are pre-recorded or automated phone calls.
Call 6 Investigates found the Do Not Call list fails to stop many scammers from calling you.
“My number is registered on the Do Not Call list, and these people are ignoring it and calling it anyway,” said Greg Bell, a Westfield resident who works from home. “It’s frustrating. I’m doing something else. I have to stop and shift gears to answer the phone.”
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More consumers are taking matters into their own hands, and are seeking revenge.
Hunter Giambra invented a free website called “I Said Don’t Call Me.”
His program automatically blocks the call from your phone while calling the robo dialer back 26 times a second up to 2 million calls a day. In the event the spammer actually answers the phone he or she will hear a loud do not call back message.
For $2.99 a month, the Robo Killer app blocks calls from ringing in the first place.
“Our job is to waste telemarketers time so they don’t waste other people’s time,” said Ethan Garr, a spokesperson for the Robo Killer app.
The app blocks more than 100,000 robo numbers. At the same time, it blocks the call from ringing, your phone's Robo Killer answer bots go to work actually answering the call and using long recordings that keep the spammer on the line so they can go on to the next number.
Robo Killer says it adds thousands of additional spam numbers daily. Both tools estimate users will see a 90 percent reduction in the number of robo calls they receive.
Greg Bell of Westfield said he’s leery of trying a revenge app, but likes the idea of getting back at scammers.
“I’d like something along the lines of this is their bank account, please have fun with their money,” said Bell. “Now, that’s revenge.”
Tips For You To Curb Unwanted Calls
• Ask your phone company what call blocking solutions they offer
• Sign up for the federal and state Do Not Call lists
• Contact your state and federal lawmakers and tell them to take action
• If a scammer calls, do not answer, talk or press buttons; this will get you even more phone calls
While phone companies work on the wide-reaching solutions, Call 6 Investigates also found free tools and apps that block unwanted calls from both cell phones and landlines.
The apps will either notify you that the call is suspect or disconnect you before your phone even rings.
Free iPhone and Android apps to help block unwanted calls:
• Nomorobo
• Mr. Number
• True Caller
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