“A robocall is a phone call that uses a computerized autodialer to deliver a pre-recorded message, as if from a robot. Robocalls are often associated with political and telemarketing phone campaigns, but can also be used for public service, emergency announcements, or scammers.” –https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robocall
Here is great example of a Robocall
Robocalls are unavoidable, but there are a few things you can do to help reduce them.
Change Your Number to be Unlisted
One, is change your phone number to be unlisted. I reached out to Telus about this and they told me that there is no charge to switch your number to being unlisted. Please note, that the information is still available to the following parties;
“Your listing information is available to organizations such as charities, telemarketers and political parties for a fee. You can choose to have your name removed from these lists. However, de-listed phone numbers are still available in Directory Assistance, and in online or printed directories.” – From Telus’ own site when signing up for a new phone service
Politely Ask Them to Remove You
Two, if you get a human on the line, you can ask them to remove you from their list and don’t call you again. If it is a legit organization, they will usually comply.
Three, register with Canada’s Do Not Call Registry (https://lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/en), setup to protect you from robocalls, cold calls and other telemarketers. This will reduce the number of these calls. Please note that registering takes 31 days to become official. It never expires and will stay on the list until you remove it. The registry can only be used for residential / personal landlines, wireless, fax numbers, and not business numbers. It is 100% free. One note, though is that it doesn’t stop, the following from reaching you, these are still allowed under the DNCL (Do Not Call List):
Canadian registered charitiespolitical parties and candidates
opinion polling firms or market research firms conducting surveys
newspapers of general circulation calling to sell a subscription
organizations that have a business relationship with you, for example:
you’ve done business with the organization in the last 18 months
you’ve inquired about the organization’s products or services in the last 6 months
When you receive a robocall
Don’t press any keys – pressing keys like 9 or 1 as instructed by the robocall, can transfer your call to a paid service (a fee will show up on your phone bill) or directly to a scammer who will try to take you for more money
Call Display can be easily faked to show a local number, or even the number and name of an institution you trust, like your Bank or Credit Card company, you can’t trust call display – besides, they typically wouldn’t call you.
If they say it is the bank, say you will come into the branch to deal with any issues
Never give out any information over the phone, especially credit card numbers and personal information – never. There is never a reason for them to ask for this information
These Services Will Never Call You
Banks
Canada Revenue Agency
Service Canada
Apple
Amazon
Microsoft
AI Robocalls
This is a whole new scary reality, where you might not be able to tell if the person you are talking to is human or not. Check out this clip and be aware of this when you receive a call from somebody you don’t know
