Tired of all those robocallers flooding your phone with unwanted calls? Add your number to the Do Not Call Registry and those annoying spam calls will stop for good. Or won’t they?
The National Do Not Call Registry is a database maintained by the United States federal government, which was created to stop unwanted sales calls. Telemarketing companies are forbidden to contact any number listed in this database, so if you want to make unwanted calls to stop, your first step should be adding your number to this list. You can do that anytime at donotcall.gov for free, your registration will never expire.
However, even though a helpful tool, the National DNC Registry is far from being the ultimate solution to robocalls. Let’s have a closer look at what it really can do for you (and what it can’t).
What the DNC Registry won’t do for you?
To fully understand how the DNC Registry works, always keep on your mind that it isn’t a tool for blocking unwanted calls. It’s just a list telemarketing companies should look into before trying to call you.
However, there are also types of calls that are allowed, even if you are in the registry. Here’s their list:
- political calls
- charitable calls
- debt collection calls
- purely informational calls
- surveys
The DNC Registry versus robocalls
And one more important fact about the Do Not Call Registry. It probably won’t get you rid of illegal robocalls. Why? Only legal companies take the registry into consideration (unlike scammerst).
“If a robocall — a call that plays a recorded message — is selling something, it’s illegal unless you’ve given a company written permission to call you that way. So if you haven’t given the company permission, and the robocall isn’t purely informational — like your cable company confirming a service appointment — there’s a good chance it’s a scam. At the very least, it’s from a company you don’t want to do business with,” says the FTC on its website.
How to get rid of robocalls for good?
If you get an illegal robocall, hang up. Don’t press buttons to be taken off a call list or to talk to a live person. It might lead to more unwanted calls. Instead, report it to the FTC.
The FTC also recommends you to download a call blocking app. In combination with the DNC Registry, it will help you to stop all incoming spam calls for good.
Don’t know which call blocker to choose? Read these 3 reasons why you should install the Should I Answer app for your Android right now 🙂
Get the app for free (Android)
or get the Should I Answer app for iOS