AARP Teams Up With Nomorobo for Scam Education and Robocall Blocking

The spam-call and text-blocking service can help you stop unwanted and illegal communications

Christina Ianzito,

AARP

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Published June 16, 2026

Courtesy Nomorobo

Key takeaways

Americans have received about 55 robocalls per person so far this year, totaling more than 40 billion calls.
Most robocalls to cellphones require prior consent, though some informational and nonprofit calls are allowed.
Nomorobo uses call blocking, screening and text filtering to help identify and reduce unwanted contacts.

It’s annoying to be interrupted by yet another spam call, but what’s far worse is becoming the victim of a robocall-fueled scam.

As part of its mission to protect older adults from fraud, the AARP Fraud Watch Network is working with Nomorobo to provide free educational content about robocall and text scams.

AARP members can also receive a 40 percent discount on a Nomorobo Max subscription ($35.99 with discount), which includes spam call blocking and screening of suspicious calls. Suspicious texts are diverted to a spam folder that you can review later. Non-members who are AARP.org registered users receive 10 percent off. (Learn more.)

A persistent and evolving threat

Americans received about 55 robocalls per person so far this year, according to Nomorobo — more than 40 billion calls in total through mid-June.

Generally, robocalls are prerecorded messages made through automatic dialing technology. They're often used by scammers to quickly and easily reach a large number of targets, pitching bogus debt relief options or auto warranties, for example. They may spoof legitimate numbers to make calls appear to come from reliable sources. Spam texts work similarly.

Another layer of protection

Your wireless provider may also offer free spam-blocking tools you can use. Among them:

AT&T: ActiveArmor
T-Mobile: ScamShield
Verizon: Call Filter

The FCC maintains a list of providers offering call-blocking services for landline customers.

Even with better blocking tools, it’s important to recognize the risks of engaging with calls or texts from unknown numbers.

Not all robocalls are illegal. Your doctor may use robocalling to remind you of an appointment, for example, or an airline may share news about a flight change. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allows such robocalls, as long as they’re for informational or noncommercial purposes. Pollsters, political campaigns and nonprofit groups (including AARP) can also make robocalls to landlines. (Robocall rules are slightly different for landlines and cellphones.)

Otherwise, “any robocall to a cellphone requires prior consent — period,” says Josh Bercu, executive director of USTelecom’s Industry Traceback Group, which works with providers to combat spam calls. In some cases, however, you may have given consent without realizing it because the agreement was buried in fine print.

Among the most common scam robocalls USTelecom sees are bank impersonation schemes — “which are getting ever more sophisticated,” says Bercu — and Amazon impersonation scams. (On a positive note, he adds, Amazon is pursuing these impostors aggressively, with significant success.)

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Nomorobo has seen a surge in Medicare impersonation scam calls, including a version from someone claiming to be “Classy” from Medicare, telling the recipient that there’s an issue with their Medicare member profile and requesting personal information. The company estimates that the calls (some from "Emma" or "Chelsea") went to 7.4 million Americans in May, says Matt Mizenko, managing director of Nomorobo, who believes that they are all being sent by the same group of offshore criminals.

“It’s a huge problem and an ever-evolving threat,” Mizenko said in an online interview with Kathy Stokes, AARP’s senior director of fraud prevention programs, about robocall and text scams. “My life’s work has been trying to stop these criminals.”

Courtesy Nomorobo

What Nomorobo does

Nomorobo uses three methods to prevent unwanted and illegal communications.

Call blocking: The company uses a database of numbers used by spammers to help prevent scam calls from reaching customers’ phones. It also compiles data from its 8 million customers, whose reports of scam calls and texts help the app identify whether a communication is legitimate.

Call screening: When someone calls you, the app will ask the caller who they are and why they’re calling. The caller is then prompted to press a number to be connected with you. “Almost always, if it’s an illegitimate caller, they’re going to hang up,” says Mizenko. “It’s almost like having a doorbell camera on the front of your house.”

Text screening: Nomorobo will direct suspicious texts to a spam folder for you to review later. Notes Mizenko: “We take away that immediate desire to interact with it by putting it in a folder that you have to explicitly go to at a later time, and you can decide what to do with it.”