How To Stop Annoying Robocalls And Scam Calls Once And For All

Detroit Free Press / Getty Images Nearly 31 billion robocalls were placed in the U.S. in 2017, up 19 percent from 2016, according to YouMail, a call blocking service. These and other apps designed to keep robocalls at bay pretty much rely on one thing: a database of phone numbers that scammers and telemarketers call from that is constantly updated. It won’t completely stop robocalls, but if there’s a particular number that keeps calling your iPhone or Android phone, it’s fairly easy to block it forever. Sprint doesn’t automatically block any calls; you could say it strongly suggests you might not want to answer the phone sometimes. Verizon Wireless’ Caller Name ID program costs $2.99 a month and identifies suspected junk calls and lets you block or report those numbers.