PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – The developers of a new technology that annihilates robocalls won a $25,000 grand prize in a Federal Trade Commission contest.
The FTC is working to reward companies that help put an end to one of its top consumer complaint categories: illegal robocalls.
It is a concern many Local 10 News viewers also report to the "Call Christina" team. Two months ago, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi warned Floridians about an increase in robocall scams.
"Scammers hide behind robocalls to take advantage of consumers and to disguise their identities," Bondi said.
The RoboKiller App, developed by Bryan Moyles and Ethan Garr, uses what is called "audio fingerprinting" to tell the difference between a robot and a human.
Calls identified as illegal robocalls go straight to spam, which means those annoying calls are squashed before they get the chance to annoy you.
Local 10 News Consumer Advocate Christina Vazquez spoke with Garr via Skype about how the technology works.
"(It's) an algorithm that's deciding, really scoring, whether you are a person or a robot, and making a determination from there whether to ring the call through or kill it and send it to the user's spam box," Garr said.
The APP is currently free for those who held fund the new company's Kickstarter campaign.
"Backing the RoboKiller Kickstarter campaign gives you immediate access to the RoboKiller beta, and guarantees you 6 to 12 free months of a paid RoboKiller product," Garr said. "With every dollar you pledge, you help us get even closer to making a difference in the lives of people everywhere."
The estimated delivery date is September 2015.
The partners are working to develop the technology to meet demand following the FTC's announcement of their Grand Prize win.
The FTC hosted the contest "Robocalls: Humanity Strikes Back" at DefCon, a hacker conference in Las Vegas, in an effort to enlist tech gurus in the on-going battle to create new tools to block robocalls.
RoboKiller relies on call forwarding and voice analysis and works on both landlines and mobile phones.
Runner-up Hemant Sengar applied similar audio analytics in his solution and will receive a $10,500 prize.
The FTC said the illegal robocall problem has grown worse as new technology makes it easier for robocallers to send out thousands of calls every minute.
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The Florida Attorney General's Office issued these tips to avoid robocall scams:
· Recognize a scam: If a consumer receives a robocall pitching a product, it is likely a scam.
· Hang up the phone: If a robocall directs a consumer to press a button to speak to an operator or to be removed from the company's call list, they should hang up immediately. Pressing a button confirms that the solicitation is being heard and can lead to more robocalls.
· Register phone numbers: Consumers who do not wish to receive solicitations over the phone should register phone numbers with the national and state Do Not Call registries at the following links, DoNotCall.gov and FLDNC.com; and
· Take notes: Consumers receiving robocalls should write down the name of the company mentioned in the prerecorded message and phone number associated with the call.
Consumers that receive robocall solicitations can report the calls to the Florida Attorney General's No Fraud Hotline at 1-866-9NO-SCAM or online at MyFloridaLegal.com.
File a complaint with the FTC and FCC.
Click here for information about Florida Do Not Call.
Click here for information about National Do Not Call.
Click here to donate to the developers' Kickstarter campaign.
Follow Christina Vazquez on Twitter @CallChristinaTV
Follow Local 10 News on Twitter @WPLGLocal10