Seven Ways to Combat Robocalls

[#1]

These calls have increased in recent years because technology has made it cheap and easy for robocallers to make calls from anywhere in the world while hiding their identities by displaying fake Caller ID information.  These can have good-intentions, such as a fundraiser or political call, or they could pose a possible threat if the call tries to access your personal information with the goal of theft or fraud. Good or bad, spam calls waste your time and annoy. Therefore, Verizon is working hard to stop many robocalls before they can get to you. Verizon monitors their networks to detect spikes in suspicious calls, and then work with law enforcement and with other telephone companies to shut down illegal robocallers. Verizon is also working with other telephone companies and industry standards organizations to develop new technologies to stop robocalls, and we support federal legislation to better go after the source – the scammers who make these calls. Although there is no perfect solution, there are a number of things you can do to combat robocalls.

1. Register your phone numbers on the “National Do Not Call Registry” (https://www.donotcall.gov/).  You can also report unwanted calls still coming after you register.

2. Subscribe to Caller ID to identify incoming callers. Be cautious as callers can ‘spoof’ their numbers ( aka it will show up as a different number on your ID).

3. If you are a Verizon Wireless customer, you can block suspicious calls by subscribing to the Verizon Caller Name ID app. With this $2.99 per month feature, you will not only be able to see the name or source of the call, but also see if the incoming call is potentially from a robocaller, spammer, or potential fraudster.

4. For landline customers, make sure your phone has blocking features, such as those offered by CPR CallBlocker (available in the Verizon Accessories Store), which have built-in blocking. Use anonymous call block where available.

5. If you have Fios Digital Voice, you can block up to 100 numbers and can sign up for a third-party service called Nomorobo which works with “simultaneous ring” feature and uses blacklists of known bad numbers.

6. If you accidentally pick up the receiver, don’t respond, say anything, or hit any buttons or follow the prompts. Simply hang up.

7. Verizon Security also assists landline customers by providing guidance on steps they can take to combat unwanted calls. For more information, contact the Verizon Unlawful Call Center at 1-800-518-5507 or follow the instructions when you dial *57 feature from the phone that received the unwanted call.

[rcschnoor]

You can also subscribe to Nomorobo if using an iPhone

Stop robocalls and telemarketers on your mobile phone - Nomorobo

or the beta version for android for less than the monthly fee for Verizon's Caller Name ID feature.

Nomorobo - Stop Robocalls Now - Android Apps on Google Play

[#3]

Excellent advice! Thank you!

[kmmcgea]

1) There is no *57 feature at VZW  "Welcome to Verizon Wireless, your call cannot be completed as dialed."

2) Verizon could do more to stop Robocalls but they choose not to:  1) Offer an easy/quick way to immediately report illegal robocalls   2) Offer a voice authentication feature prior to ring   3) flag high volume calls from a newly created number and block.

[rcschnoor]

kmmcgea wrote:

1) There is no *57 feature at VZW "Welcome to Verizon Wireless, your call cannot be completed as dialed."

The first 6 words in #7 from above would explain why *57 doesn't work for VZW(Verizon Wireless) customers:

"7. Verizon Security also assists landline customers"

It doesn't say anything about *57 working for Verizon Wireless.

Actually, MANY of the pointers from above are directed at landline instead of wireless customers.

[stevegoldfield]

nomorobo was free on my landline phone, but there's a monthly charge to use it as an app on my iPhone. If Verizon would enable appless nomorobo, free nomorobo could be available, too. To date, Verizon has refused to do that and refused to explain its reasons.

[Snn5]

It's nice that T-Mobile offers scam and spam call protection for free on its ONE plan.

[rcschnoor]

steve.goldfield wrote:

nomorobo was free on my landline phone

You should qualify your statement. "Nomorobo was free on my 'VOIP' landline phone" because the nature of that technology offers simultaneous ring, unlike traditional landline technology or cellular networks. Verizon does not have that capability with their cellular network, the same as most other cellular providers. Project Fi is the only cellular provider of which I am aware that provides that capability.

steve.goldfield wrote:

but there's a monthly charge to use it as an app on my iPhone. If Verizon would enable appless nomorobo, free nomorobo could be available, too. To date, Verizon has refused to do that and refused to explain its reasons.

It is always nice when ANOTHER company provides the infrastructure so that a service a company(Nomorobo) provides will work so that that company(Nomorobo) doesn't have to foot the bill in order to receive the benefits of that capability. Unfortunately that is not normally the case for ANY business. Yes, it would be nice for Verizon to pay for the technology in order for Nomorobo to work as it does with VOIP providers, i.e. simultaneous ring. Unfortunately, it is not in the best interest of Verizon to pay for technology it does not need in order for its service to work and is the reason why Nomorobo has decided to come up with another method to provide its service and has paid to do so. Nomorobo has chosen to pass that cost off to you. Whether or not you choose to use that service is up to you. If Verizon had chosen to pay money in order to facilitate simultaneous ring on their network, what makes you think they would not have passed THAT cost off to you? They could have charged a monthly fee, the same as Nomorobo, in order to use it as they do many other technologies such as Family Base, etc...

The service is available. Use it at a monthly cost or don't use it, your choice.

[jleon1971]

my contract is up I will consider this just because I get several calls a day and I have nomorobo and I still get robocalls. This happens because now robocalls are using real people numbers. I called back few of the numbers I got call from, and the person on the other line told me they were not aware of it.

[MAM13]

I have gotten literally 8 robocalls all from Verizon carriers in the past 3 days.  Why do I have to pay for a service if I am reporting this directly to Verizon.  Verizon should recognize that it has these numbers and immediately assist in elimination of these types of illegal calls.  Instead, they charge us monthly to stop calls they are allowing to go through.  Why is Verizon allowing illegal phone calls?  Someone explain how a company would knowingly accept this and charge it's customers to eliminate them?

[AAFA1989]

Why is Verizon charging to stop robocalls?  No other major carrier does.  You obviously have the technology to stop these criminals from harassing your customers, but you want to charge US for that service?!! The instructions above are not effective as I already have my number on the national no call registry. However, blocking does not work for callers who change their numbers on a regular basis.  Stop allowing calls from unverifiable numbers!! These calls are such a nuisance to me that I am considering changing to a carrier who will not charge for something they should already be doing. Get out there and see what your customers need, Verizon!

[havedna]

This service should be provided for free. Not $2.99 per line what a joke.

[Mtnlady78]

Almost 2 yrs ago ATT & T mobile started providing their customers with FREE spam & robo call blocking!! Why can’t Verizon do the same? Why are they so far behind their competitors? They say they listen to their customers but obviously they don’t care what they think or want! Please start listening!

[bmfb1980]

None of those tips above are good advice. Don't put your name on the national registry... that only tells scammers your info is legitimate and since they can't be traced... they WILL call you and farm out your number to others. The various anti-spam apps and services offered are only MARGINALLY helpful. Why? Because as soon as you block a number, or the scammers realize they aren't getting through, they literally push a button and to change their number and start calling you again. I received 23 calls in 45 minutes from 23 different numbers, but ALL connecting me to the SAME girl who was trying hard to scam me. (Yes, I like to play games with them and it's really scary just how aggressive they are with calling. When I asked the girl why they are calling me from so many different numbers, she said "oh, don't worry about that" and quickly moved onto trying to get information from me... at which point I told her the submarine was about to go under water and the call was going to drop lol). Current tech allows anyone to use ANY number to call you. This defeats ALL apps and services as these rely on actual/true numbers when in fact they are spoofed. Once scammers know your number is legit, they SELL it to others who can then SPOOF it to call targets. You can't stop it.... UNLESS companies make it so that the only calls your cell phone can receive are those that have been AUTHENTICATED BY FINGERPRINT or FACIAL RECOGNITION. Sad, but true. Not sure how this will be done to authenticate land lines... guess you will have to either accept scam calls from landlines, or have a peaceful/quiet cell phone because you've blocked them all.

[Vzmark]

Verizon said they were making this free in March...what happened?