Nearly half of the calls made to U.S. cell phones this year will be spam, according to the Federal government.

“Illegal robocalls are those asking you for money or to buy something,” said Marketplace Manager Hawaii, BBB, Roseann Freitas.

Not all robocalls are illegal. Some companies use this technique to contact their costumers.

“So your legal ones are your political candidates, your charities as well as your doctors’ appointments, banks and telephone companies,” said Freitas. “As far as the bank and the telephone companies, that is something they’re allowed to do but they have to do it in house. They cannot out source them.”

Legal or illegal, Freitas says no matter who the call is from, don’t answer it if it’s a number you don’t know.

“With the robocalls what they’re looking for is to see if there’s someone on the other end who is going to answer. So when you answer they are able to sell your phone number off.”

Most wireless cell phone companies have added an extra layer of protection. AT&T has a free robocall blocking app, T-Mobile has implemented caller verification standards and Verizon offers a call filter service.

“The other thing you can do is actually report to the FTC, they do track all of the robocalls and then you can file lawsuits overtime to get back at these companies. The best way is to report them to the FTC,” said Freitas.

If you have a concern or are interested in becoming an Action Line volunteer, give us a call Monday through Friday at 591-0222. You can also send an email to actionline@khon2.com.