Sascha Aleksich

   An automated robotic voice can be heard all over America, and now it seems the IRS is cracking down on the entire population for not turning in their tax money. Robotic spam callers have become something of an issue for America and do not ever seem to let up. 

     There is not much that can be done to stop the calls, but there are a few apps that can help limit the amount. 

     First of all, a robocall is an automated message. According to Federal Trade Commission the messages that try to sell something are illegal but political messages are legal. Many of these messages come from overseas, so it is harder to crack down on the main offender for these calls. 

     Robocalls work by either buying numbers illegally to call or they dial at random. This is one of the reasons why signing up for the National do not call list does not work because robocallers often work with illegal methods. Scammers will also use spoofing technology to route fake caller ID information, and they will use this to match someone’s area code number.

      Then they will pre record a robotic message, because it is cheaper than an actual person, Robokiller said, an app made specifically to stopping robocallers. 

     There are various different types of robocalls says “New York Post” these types of robocall scams includes neighbor spoofing where a number imitates numbers from someones area code. There is also a chinese constitute scam where a caller calls in mandarin asking for the victim to help pick up a package, usually the trick is to get someone to reveal their credit card number and bank info. 

     A SEO scam posing as a small time business owner that needs help from being listed as “close” on google and are hoping to get money to keep themselves open. There is also a health insurance scam that will trick people into sending them money, and also the infamous IRS scam that misleads people into sending them money by saying they owe them a huge amount of dollars. 

     “I get them once a week,” sophomore Haleigh Harris said. 

     There is really no way to prevent getting these calls, but having a number up on social media can leave someone more susceptible to spam calls, according to Robokiller.

     However, there are still some ways to help stop the amount that comes in, and this is dependent on the type of service someone has. Usually a phone will come with these apps pre installed.

     “I usually just delete them or do not answer them,” freshman CallieDiatrich said. “I usually get a lot of credit card ones or sometimes I just get random ones from companies, like insurance.” 

      AT&T, has a post-paid service that provides fraud warning, spam call screening and blocking for free. Sprint also has a similar service but costs 2.99 dollars a month. T-mobile will tell when a call is fishy, or by dialing #662, there is a free ScamBlock app TechCrunch said.

     Verizon has a preinstalled spam blocker for free that detects spam calls, but paying for premium gives more info on the caller. Which does not help much considering the robocallers spoof their number, and the premium might filter important callers too. For third party spam blockers, there is Nomorobo and Robokill.

     It is best just to block or ignore the number as well. Answering a call will cause more spam, and spam filters will not cover everything according to TechCrunch.

    Robocallers have been a huge issue nowadays, and although there are measures to take against them, they are not always effective, so it is  better to try and ignore the calls all together.