Protect yourself from robocalls with these nifty apps

For a price, you can put a stop to most of those unwanted calls

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If you’ve ever gotten a robocall, it’s safe to assume you’ve wished for a way to put an end to them.

You’re not alone.

In fact, it’s estimated that more than 26 billion – yes, billion – robocalls were made last year alone. In some cases, they might be scams claiming you’ve won cash or owe money to the IRS.

Anthony Colantonio is no stranger to unwanted calls. At the worst point, he estimates he was getting multiple calls a day – in some cases, as many as 10 calls.

“You’re wondering when you’re holding your phone, ‘Who’s calling me now? Is this spam? Am I going to waste another five minutes on the phone?’” he said.

Colantonio owns My Web Alien, a web design company, so he spends a lot of time on his phone. That means these callers are more than just annoying; they’re disruptive to his business.

He was so fed up with trying to screen phone calls to see if they were scams or legitimate. That is, until he found out about the RoboKiller app.

This nifty little app will head off a robocall before your phone even rings. And then the fun begins: even RoboKiller will answer and waste the caller’s time.

The app is credited with blocking millions of robocalls a day. For people like Colantonio, every call avoided is time and money saved.

“We can’t get back wasted time,” he said. “We can always generate new business, but you can never make more time.”

RoboKiller offers a one-week trial free of charge. Once that’s over, users can subscribe for $2.99 a month or $24.99 a year. Consumer Reports also recommends Nomorobo, Hiya and YouMail.

The best advice we can offer is, if you don’t recognize the caller, don’t bother picking up. If it’s someone you know, they’ll leave a message.