The Easiest Way To Block Annoying Spam Callers

This post is sponsored and contributed by a Patch Brand Partner. The views expressed in this post are the author's own.

If you own a phone, chances are you’ve been on the receiving end of a car insurance scam, an identity theft attempt or a slew of other live or prerecorded calls ranging from mildly annoying to genuinely frightening. They’re called spam calls — and if you’ve been getting more of them than usual, you’re not alone.

Americans received a whopping 61.4 billion spam calls just last year. Thankfully, though, there’s a way to stop them. Spam blocker apps such as RoboKiller provide a surefire defense against spam calls and texts by using large databases of known spammers and telemarketers to block shady calls before your phone can even ring. RoboKiller also uses Answer Bots, hilarious prerecorded messages that answer spam calls for you and keep scammers on the line to waste their time.

How Do Spam Blockers Work?

A spam blocker is a program or app that recognizes and blocks spam calls and texts, meaning your phone won’t ring when the "deposed prince" of a foreign nation needs your Social Security number to save their country. Instead, these apps will simply send you a notification that a spam caller attempted to contact you.

RoboKiller sets itself apart from other spam blockers by using a constantly updated database of 500 million known spam numbers to block spam calls. Then, it goes a step further by using prerecorded voice messages to trick the caller into staying on the line to waste their time. You can listen to spammers from around the world talk to one of RoboKiller’s prerecorded conversations that range from the top brass at Area 51 to the Grinch, and share the funny recordings on social media to laugh with friends.

The Importance Of An Effective Spam Blocker

Spam calls are a serious problem. They generally aim to squeeze money or personal information from recipients for criminal purposes. These calls aren’t just annoying — spammers have stolen cash, committed identity theft and fraud and worse. In fact, it’s estimated that around half of all calls people receive today are spam.

Although RoboKiller has previously recorded a 35 percent decrease in spam calls since March in its “State of Robocalls During COVID-19” report, consumers received 4.18 billion spam calls in June — an increase in volume that the company anticipates will continue to grow. In fact, pharmacy scams, “get rich quick” ploys and home security traps have actually increased by over 100 percent. The report also suggests that as countries begin to reopen, consumers should expect spam calls to return to their normal volume.

The bottom line: Scammers are capitalizing on the current state of panic that the coronavirus pandemic has created.

How Can Robokiller Help?

Aside from being one of the best spam blockers on the market, RoboKiller's global scammer database of 500,000,000 known scams updates every minute to ensure customers are protected from emerging scams. This results in an estimated 99 percent reduction in spam calls and texts within just 30 days.

Audio fingerprinting, one of the many tools in RoboKiller’s anti-spam arsenal, allows the app to identify scammers not only by their numbers but also by their voices. That means when a spammer tries to call from a new number or digitally change their caller ID, as they often do, they’re met with one of RoboKiller’s Answer Bots and not you. The company also added a new feature called the "Radar" tab, which allows customers to track scam trends in their area.

RoboKiller recently launched TextKiller, an app that protects users from harmful and annoying spam texts from numbers not listed in their contacts. (It’s free on the Apple App Store for a limited time.) The launch couldn’t have come at a better time: According to the Federal Trade Commission, almost 52,500 Americans filed complaints over fraud related to the coronavirus, with the staggering amount of reported losses totaling over $38.6 million.

Stopping New Coronavirus Scammers

Through its developments in machine learning and audio fingerprinting, RoboKiller discovered several new scams related to the coronavirus that spam callers are using to take advantage of unsuspecting victims during the pandemic. RoboKiller warns consumers to take the following precautions to protect themselves from spammers:

• Avoid answering calls from unknown numbers, especially those that call at odd hours.
• Do not provide any personal information to unknown callers.
• Avoid following any requested prompts.
• Download a call blocking app, such as RoboKiller, to equip your phone with the latest technology.

RoboKiller is available in the App Store and Google Play Store. For more information, visit www.robokiller.com.

Learn More About How RoboKiller Protects You From Scammers