Terminating telemarketer calls: 3 smartphone apps put to the test


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SALT LAKE CITY — We all know what it's like. You answer the phone and discover it's a telemarketer. Immediately, you're annoyed. How can you stop the incessant calls? The KSL Investigators put three smartphone apps to the test.

"I'm getting anywhere from six to eight phone calls a day," claims Randy Ochsenbein.

Ochsenbein says he's being harassed. Not by a collection agency, or his nemesis, not even a secret admirer. He has a much bigger problem, telemarketers.

"It just doesn't stop," said Ochsenbein. "These people are relentless. They just won't take no for an answer."

It's an issue that affects a lot of people. The Federal Communications Commission tells KSL Investigators in the past five years, the agency has gotten 1.1 million complaints about unwanted calls. Its solution is the Do Not Call Registry. Although 221 million people signed up for it, it isn't helping Ochsenbein.


I'm getting anywhere from six to eight phone calls a day. It just doesn't stop. These people are relentless. They just won't take no for an answer.

–Randy Ochsenbein


"I said 'well my name is on the Do Not Call Registry. You are not supposed to be calling,'" Ochsenbein told one telemarketer. "And her comment was, we can call. We are allowed to call."

Ochsenbein says telemarketing calls have gotten so out of control, they've become a distraction at work.

"It got to a point to where I quit even answering my phone," Ochsenbein said.

Because he works at KSL, we know his boss wouldn't be happy. So KSL Investigators wanted to help Ochsenbein out. He has an Android phone, so they selected three of the most popular Android apps for stopping telemarketers and put them to the test.

Calls Blacklist

★☆☆☆☆

First up, an app called "Calls Blacklist." It's highly rated, but Ochsenbein said he didn't really use it. The app didn't do much for him besides give him a way to manually block calls on his phone. Since he can already do that even without the app, Ochsenbein gives "Calls Blacklist" only one star.

Mr. Number

★★★☆☆

Next up, an app called "Mr. Number." The description says it blocks unwanted calls, identifies and stops spam and looks up unknown phone numbers. Ochsenbein says the look-up feature didn't really work for him, but he did like having the ability to read comments and quickly decide for himself whether or not it's a telemarketer on the other end. He gave "Mr. Number" three stars.

Privacy Star

★★★★★

Finally, Ochsenbein tried an app called "Privacy Star." It touts itself as the only service to tell you who is calling and why. Ochsenbein said it was extremely easy to use. Calls from known contacts show up green. Calls from known telemarketers show up red. You can also see how many times they've called you and how many complaints they have. Best of all, the red calls are automatically blocked. For example, Direct TV called Ochsenbein 34 times, but his phone never even rang. "Privacy Star" also allowed Ochsenbein to file complaints, and within a few days he was getting one or two calls a week, instead of seven or eight calls a day.

"The calls really did start to drop off a lot," said Ochsenbein. "It helped a ton."

He gives the app five stars and says it's the one he'll be using permanently to turn the tables on telemarketers.

"This one I absolutely loved," Ochsenbein said. "This one does a lot of the work for me."

All the apps the KSL Investigators tried out were free. If you want to test one for yourself, they recommend taking Ochsenbein's advice and look for apps that tell you who's calling, allow you to file complaints, and block telemarketers automatically.

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Mike Headrick

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