BLOCK ROBOCALLS ON LANDLINES
With dangerous robocalls continuing to make headlines, many consumers are desperately searching for a way to block robocalls on landlines. And the perpetrators behind these always annoying, sometimes dangerous, robocalls are showing no signs of slowing down. According to YouMail there were 3.8 billion robocalls placed just in the month of July. It is amazing that after years of dealing with robocalls on landline phones that these scam artists are still somehow able to get away with it.
WHAT EXACTLY IS A ROBOCALL?
It is safe to say that most people with a landline phone have experienced the dreaded tell tale sign of a robocall. When your phone rings and you answer it, if there is a pre-recorded message instead of a real person speaking, it is a robocall. These pre-recorded messages are delivered to millions of people each day through auto-dialing software. These nuisance calls are usually trying to sell you something. It is usually a scam.
And because of the way these calls are able to leverage tools on the internet, they are cheap and easy for telemarketers and scammers to produce in huge quantities.
ARE ALL LANDLINE ROBOCALLS ILLEGAL?
While robocalls are incredibly annoying, not all are actually illegal. For example, robocalls that are considered legal include political calls, debt collections, or robocalls from charities asking for donations. But consumers need to know that if you receive a pre-recorded message that is trying to sell you something, this is illegal unless you have given the company written permission. And in getting permission, the company has to be clear that they will be contacting you using these pre-recorded messages.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU RECEIVE A ROBOCALL ON YOUR LANDLINE
If you are receiving robocalls on your landline, the first line of defense is to simply not answer them. But avoiding these calls is easier said than done. Simply sitting there next to a phone that does not stop ringing is not really a solution.
If you do answer the phone and it turns out to be a robocall, hang up immediately without any kind of engagement. These scammers can find ways to take advantage of unsuspecting victims with even the slightest amount of information you share with them.
You can also report the call to the FTC at DoNotCall.gov. But you should note that reporting these callers will not end robocalls. In fact, the FTC even states on their website that in order to actually be effective, the scammers must follow the rules and not call people on the Do Not Call Registry. How many scammers do you think actually decided to follow that rule?
However, if you do want to share your information with the FTC you will need to have the following information on hand:
- 1. Your phone number.
- 2. The number on your caller ID,
- 3. Any number you’re told to call back.
- 4. Date and time of the call, if you know it.
CAN YOU BLOCK ROBOCALLS ON LANDLINES?
With robocalls being around since the early 80’s one would think the government or telephone service providers would have found a way to actually block robocalls on landlines. Even though these calls were pre-recorded on hand held tape recorders, they were still able to trouble us and scam those who fell for their message.
Fast forward to today and with access to tools like the internet, cheap data, and changes within the telecommunications industry, these landline robocalls have become even more of a nuisance. And they are only getting smarter, which means they are becoming increasingly difficult to stop.
WHAT ARE THE RECOMMENDATIONS TO BLOCK ROBOCALLS ON LANDLINES?
If you do an online search for “how to block robocalls on landlines” you will most likely find three common suggestions - each acting as a partial solution.
National Do Not Call Registry
The first line of defense when trying to block robocalls on landlines is often registering your phone number with the National Do Not Call Registry. The FTC is clear about how the registry works - and how it doesn’t.
By design, the Do Not Call List is meant to stop unwanted sales and marketing calls from ringing on your phone. In order for businesses to call you, they have to cross check with the registry to be sure your number is not listed.
But given the number of robocalls made every day, it is clear that scammers are not concerned about the list or the rules. Of course they do not check to be sure the numbers they are going to call are on it.
So, while the registry might be better than nothing, it will not stop the bad guys from calling you.
Call Blocking Devices
There are many call blockers for landlines available on the market. Most of these products come pre-programmed with known spam numbers. And then if the call blocker recognizes the number as being spam, it can catch it.
The problem is spam callers change or create new phone numbers all the time. This means that these continually created new numbers will not be logged in the device.
Most call blockers allow you to add calls that come in but this does not solve the problem of unwanted spam calls ringing on your phone - not to mention that manually inputting and cataloging can be a tedious process.
On top of that, the use of neighbor spoofing makes calls look like they are from your area. So if you rely on caller ID and see a number that appears to be local, you may still decide to answer. This signals the caller that your number is valid. Which means you need to get ready for a lot more calls!
Use a Smart Landline Phone
Newer, sophisticated designs are giving rise to the “smart landline phone.” Given the consumer demand for ways to block these robocalls on landlines, many of the popular brands have added some type of call blocking feature to their phone systems.
Each brand offers something a little different in their attempt to block robocalls on landlines. But once again, with the hundreds of millions of spam numbers out there, there is no way this approach can block them all. This means that a majority of landline robocalls calls will always still get through.
Meet imp: THE BEST WAY TO BLOCK ROBOCALLS ON LANDLINES
Now that we have outlined the problem with robocalls along with the typical suggestions on how to stop them, we want to introduce you to imp, the smart home call-filtering system for landlines. imp is the best way to completely block robocalls on landlines.
(But don’t just take our word for it. See what our customers are saying → )
With the imp’s smart call-filtering system, you are guaranteed to never hear another ring from a robocall ever again. Bold claim? Yes. But we can, and are happy to, back it up.
How imp actually blocks robocalls on landlines.
What if we told you that the best way to block robocalls on landlines involved not trying to block at all? Sounds crazy, right?
Well, it’s true. imp successfully stops 100% of landline robocalls because imp focuses 100% on calls you actually want.
So what does that mean?
imp works by pairing the contacts stored in your smartphone with your landline (via the imp box, our custom hardware that plugs into your landline). From there, imp checks each and every call that comes in. If it is a number that imp recognizes, the phone rings. Otherwise, imp silently handles the call for you, sending the call to voicemail and then notifying you of the message.
On average, people have a couple hundred contacts stored in their smartphone. While it is impossible to check against the hundreds of millions of possible spam phone numbers, flipping this idea around to instead work with a much smaller subset of numbers (your contacts) is the secret sauce to success when it comes to block robocalls on landlines.
Even if you start out with a dynamic database that some of the landline call blocking devices provide, the numbers that spammers call from are updated and changing constantly. This is like trying to catch water in a sieve.
But what about adding numbers that can make your phone ring? Easy. You can add any number to your system - doctor or town office - with a simple swipe right within the imp app.
On top of that, you can also easily move any number to a different list. For example, maybe you have a contact that you no longer want to ring through, but you would still like to get messages from them - you can simply move that number over to your Greylist. Now whenever that individual calls, your phone doesn’t ring but you are still able to receive a message from them.
