Verizon Offers Free Robocall Blocker

Well ... sort of.
There are two apps ... one free, the other incurs a monthly fee.
Read more here ... includes links to see if your smartphone can get the app:

https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/verizon-free-robocall-blocking-service

The cellphone service provider said Tuesday that it began auto-enrolling customers in its free Call Filter service after a recent Federal Communications Commission ruling gave phone carriers more authority to block spam calls.

“We know our customers are sick and tired of the endless onslaught of robocalls,” said Ronan Dunne, Verizon’s executive vice president and CEO of Verizon Consumer Group. “Let me be clear: I am too.”

Verizon customers will need to download the company’s Call Filter app to take advantage of the service.

This is good news but I still have another call blocker app that actually gives the caller a number not in service message.  Pretty much rules out robo callers because they try again and again.  On the flip side, they cannot leave a message.  So while this is a step in the right direction we still need to be vigilant and cautious.  Slim, thank you for a link to the article which is a great read and informative as is your post.

One of the problems with smartphone apps (at least with the ones I checked), is that they offer two methods of screening:

1.  Send message / hang up
2.  Redirect incoming call to VM (or similar)
[May need a "blacklist" rather than use technology to determine scam calls]

Both methods use minutes.  Not bad if one has relatively unlimited minutes, but if one is on a budget plan, the minutes are wasted.

I THINK (but may be in error), the Verizon Blocker blocks before the call gets to the user's phone, so no minutes are wasted.

But ... there is still no "universally workable" answer, since the bad guys always seem to be at least one step ahead of  our slow moving system responses.

Hi Slim!  In an associated story, I got this factoid:

States Most and Least Likely to get Robocalls – 8/31/2019

Nevada residents, beware: You could be more likely to get robocalls.

The state is the most likely place where residents get robocalls, based on its population and how many robocall complaints are made in the state.

Meanwhile, residents in Alaska are the least likely to get robocalls.

According to data from the FTC list of Do Not Call complaints from 2018, Nevada has 2,579 complaints per every 100,000 people. Overall, the state had 77,316 complaints.

In Alaska, there are about 549 complaints per 100,000 people, with a total of 4,064 complaints overall, according to the FTC.  Robocalls are so prevalent -- and annoying -- that phone companies are even starting to automatically enroll their customers in blocking services like Verizon announced Tuesday.
The company announced that it began auto-enrolling customers in its free Call Filter service after a recent Federal Communications Commission ruling gave phone carriers more authority to block spam calls.

AT&T has also promised to automatically enroll customers in its spam-blocking.

To see if your state ranks, here are the most and least likely states to get robocalls, according to the FTC.

10 states where you’re most likely to get a robocall
1. Nevada
2. Colorado
3. Arizona
4. Oregon
5. New Jersey
6. Connecticut
7. Virginia
8. Maryland
9. Florida
10. Michigan

10 states where you’re least likely to get a robocall
41. Kentucky
42. Oklahoma
43. Iowa
44. Louisiana
45. Missouri
46. South Dakota
47. North Dakota
48. Indiana
49. Mississippi
50. Alaska