After an aunt of mine got scammed just like this, but to a lower tune of money, I got so sick of this happening to vulnerable people. I went ahead and made an app and put it on her phone.
The other apps and services out there operate on a blacklist model. They block calls they know to be bad. My app turns that around and operates on a whitelist model.
That being said, I had to help my aunt out some in getting it working, but now I am confident that she won't be scammed again.
Despite all the normal warnings we give our elders, in the heat of the moment, the scammers know how to take advantage of them. The best thing is to not allow them to ring their phone.
If anyone cares, my app is in the app stores, and available 100% free for basic usage.
I know on iOS you can just block any calls from contacts that are not in your list. It's pretty easy. My phone just won't ring. They'll be sent to voice mail instead. In my voice mail greeting, it says that I won't listen to the voice mail, and if they're trying to get in touch with me, hang up and text me.
Yeah, that is great that iOS did that! They released that last summer I think.
There are times that you do want anyone to call you, or you don't even want unknown callers to leave a voicemail.
My friend's mother would freak out with every little thing always, including the voicemails from robotic voices saying their SSN will be invalid unless they call back at some weird number.
So my friend got the app on her mother's phone and set it to the strictest mode, and her mom hasn't freaked out anymore. This only works because she uses her phone for talking with family members and a few doctor offices.
The other apps and services out there operate on a blacklist model. They block calls they know to be bad. My app turns that around and operates on a whitelist model.
That being said, I had to help my aunt out some in getting it working, but now I am confident that she won't be scammed again.
Despite all the normal warnings we give our elders, in the heat of the moment, the scammers know how to take advantage of them. The best thing is to not allow them to ring their phone.
If anyone cares, my app is in the app stores, and available 100% free for basic usage.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/robostopper-block-spam-calls/i...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.codeheadla...