Blocking unwanted calls is something everybody wants to do, and there are many Call Blocker apps out on the market, but only one, PrivacyStar, is the only app that combines – a real-time caller ID, unlimited call blocking, automatic scam blocking and the ability to easily report abusive calls and text to the federal agencies. They claim that they block over 100 million calls a month. They also claim to file over 100,000 complaints each month directly to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for Do Not Call, Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act – these are for violations filed on behalf of PrivacyStar subscribers. They proudly proclaim to be the number one supplier of complaints filed with the FTC in 2014, which equates to about 21-percent of the FTC’s complaints.
Nobody likes unsolicited calls, even if they are from bill collectors, however, telemarketing calls top the list with over 140,000 U.S. telemarketing firms that make more than 150 million calls every day and up to 20-percent of them are illegal according to TMCnet and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ.) I guess you cannot really blame them, after all, telemarketing is now over a $500 billion business. PrivacyStar is fighting back by submitting complaints for harassing calls, threats of violence and vulgar language.
PrivacyStar is a freemium application that you can pick up in the Google Play Store– call blocking, ScamBlock, complaint filing and identification of known offenders are all part of the free service. If you want to add Real-time caller ID and unlimited reverse number lookup, they are available for a seven-day free trial. After that you will be charged $2.99 a month or you can get a better deal for $19.99 per year. The upgrade to the app includes a new and more powerful call log and directory assistance. Color-Coded ScamBlock, detailed caller ID and new complaint-filing feature were also included in the updated application.
The new Enhanced Call Log puts all of your calls on a single screen to make it easier to identify numbers. The Color-Coded Threat Levels uses Green for safe, then moves to Yellow and then finally the Red level. Caller ID/YD provides a real-time pop-up display of incoming caller details with other identifying details, because sometimes, just the name is not enough. Compliant Filing makes it quick and easy to report abusive call behavior and you can send it directly to the FTC from within the app and connects you with legal experts to get up to $1,500 per call violation. There is also a nice directory done up by different business categories that will pop up local businesses if you do not know their name to do a search.
Jeff Stalnaker, President of PrivacyStar said, “Our mission is to ensure that when your phone rings, you know who’s calling and why. We then give you control to take action as every month we block millions of calls for our users and we are really just scratching the surface. One thing we are especially proud of is helping people to easily file complaints as they may be eligible for cash compensation. Telemarketers have already paid PrivacyStar users millions of dollars due to their abuses.”
