There were close to 15 million robocalls made, in just the 815, in January of 2019. Nationwide, it's in the billions.

These spam calls hit us almost daily and it's a great big pain. If you're like me, you don't laser any number that doesn't look familiar. Often I won't even answer it if the number wasn't already stored in my phone. I'll admit that sometimes the number calling looks like someone you recognize or should probably answer, so I do, and instantly regret it.

In the month of January, 2.8 billion robocalls were made, so clearly this is going to be an ongoing problem. That is the opinion of Better Business Bureau Rockford office director Dennis Horton in a recent post at mystateline.com.

Here are some things you should do when you get a ROBOCALL

  • Don't answer it
  • Let it go to voicemail
  • Once you've heard the voicemail and know it was a robocall, block the number
  • If you accidentally answer the call, don't talk and don't hit any keys. (If you do either of those things, the robocalled now knows there's a live person at that number). You should also then block the number.

The Citizens Utility Board put together a pretty good guide to dealing with robocalls. You find it here. According to BBB Director Horton, there are also some apps you can get that help pre-block robocallers.

More From Rockford's New Country Q98.5