Why Robocalls May Go Away In 2019
How many times a week do you get a call from a (813) or (727) number similar to yours? You pick up and it’s a robocall. I know this will break your heart. But they may be going away. Don’t worry. Not ALL of them. But more on that in a minute.
Those robocalls ARE illegal. The government, cell providers and computer geniuses have been working together and they think they have the solution. USA Today reports that they’ve come up with a tactic where they can verify a call before it gets to you. They say “major US telephone service providers” will see this verification system impelmented by next year. Some will get it in the next couple months.
What may happen is you might see a green check mark next to a phone number. It’ll be kind of like how you see next to a verified Facebook or Twitter page with a check next to it. Feedback from users will help it determine fake calls just like spam is filtered out of your email inbox. It may not be perfect, but it’ll hopefully greatly reduce the annoying calls.
SOME robocalls are legal though. For example, charities and political campaigns (I know) might be able to bypass the verification.
Some tips until then. Simply don’t answer calls from numbers you don’t know. Many cell users have made their settings so that numbers not stored in your contacts don’t ring your phone. I haven’t mastered this yet, but apparently it can be done. Finally if you’re moving, don’t change your number. For example, my phone number is still the same one I had when I lived in Boston. So I always can spot a fake when I see one from that area code calling.
