App allows you to turn the tables on telemarketers

TAMPA - Nobody likes robocalls, but now there's an app that's allowing some people to turn the tables on telemarketers.

There were roughly 30 billion robocalls last year, which works out to about 1,000 calls every second. Many of them look like legitimate phone numbers, and may share the recipient's area code, making it difficult to know which calls to ignore.

Enter the RoboKiller app.

“Last month we wasted more than 50,000 hours of spammers' time,” boasted company spokesman Ethan Garr. 

RoboKiller blocks those calls and goes a step further, using recorded bots to annoy the callers.

“We think that’s important. If we can steal their time, they can’t use it to scam anybody,” Garr said.   

Robokiller costs $2.50 a month and is available on iPhone or Android.  

If that is not for you, there is a low-tech way to deal with these calls.

"If you don’t recognize a number, don’t answer; wait for it to go to your answering machine, and always be skeptical,” Garr added.