Registration for the service began in 2003 and sign-ups don't expire, yet the FTC reported receiving 4. 5 million complaints in 2017, at "an average of more than 375,000 robocall complaints per month," compared to 2013's 2.18 million.
It it isn't completely effective, but the people who signed up probably get fewer calls than they would have if they hadn't.
This way you don't have to see the calls come through or have to ignore them. Keep in mind this strategy won't work for any professional hoping to hear from new clients or those who receive regular calls from unknown numbers are part of their job, but it's a great option if you have a separate, non-work phone.
This is especially helpful if there are a few numbers you get calls from frequently. If you choose the route of answering unknown numbers instead of waiting for a voicemail, keep a couple of things in mind:
Don't engage by speaking OR by pressing a number even to be taken off a list, according to the FTC: "Doing so will probably lead to more unwanted calls. Instead, hang up and file a complaint with the FTC."
Train yourself to answer questions by repeating them instead of saying "yes," because that can be used as a vocal signature to make unauthorized credit card charges. For example, the answer to "Can you hear me?" should be "I can hear you," instead of "Yes."
Samsung's Smart Call flags calls it suspects are spam, and Google turns the screen bright red and orange to tell you not to answer. Google's even adding spam filtering so the calls go straight to your voicemail, as spotted by 9to5 Mac.
For now, Sprint and Verizon still make you pay for premium caller ID; AT&T and T-Mobile offer it for free to postpaid customers. Again, this won't completely eradicate calls but it'll help. Lately, senators and members of congress have been pushing for legislation that requires carriers to offer free robocalling blocking.
The FCC also started allowing carriers to "proactively block illegal robocallers" in November, but a lot of robocalls go through multiple carriers, which makes it nearly impossible to track the source.
Most of these apps will require a fee that can be paid monthly (about $2 to $3) or annually (about $25). In addition to caller ID and personal block lists, they automatically block calls from telemarketers and robocallers, sometimes giving them a taste of their own medicine by responding with bots.
Some of these apps also give the option to make a caller hit a button (0 or 1) to prove they're not a bot, like some sites do with captchas. There are bots smart enough to get around it just like there are bots that get around captchas, though.
To join Jolly Roger, subscribers have to share their phone number and email address. After you pick a robot, you can send spam numbers to it and receive a recording of the call to your email so you still know what it was about.
But b careful with who you send to the bot, because it doesn't sound very professional judging by The New York Times' description. The Jolly Roger bots apparently give the caller generic "uh-huh" responses and then asks them to repeat the pitch when it's over.
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