MILWAUKEE -- You've probably picked up calls from numbers that look similar to yours, only to find a scammer on the other line. Well, we found ways to fight back.
One man created an app that blocks these calls. He noticed users in our 414 area code are getting hit about twice as hard than the national average, with about two calls each day. This shows him, scammers are having success in our area.
Ethan Garr tells us he came up with the app called RoboKiller after taking part in a challenge our the Federal Trade Commission created. The FTC wanted to discover new ways to fight thieves stealing more than $9 billion a year.
The app works by blocking those unwanted calls automatically. Different voice recordings take the call for you.
"We get to the human being behind that call and we waste their time, sometimes for hours, and when we do that were actually stealing time from them which means that they can't use to go after your elderly grandmother, they can't go after a millennial that doesn't use their phone that often," explained Garr.
The co-creator of this app tells us he's noticed among his users in the 414 area code, there has been an uptick in calls trying to scam victims through debt collection, such as student loans.
There are other ways to protect yourself:
- Never answer unknown calls
- Do not give any personal information
- If you fall victim, contact police
For more information on this app, click here.
