Don't Dial *77 To Block Cell Phone Robocalls, Say Mass. State Police

BOSTON (CBS) – Massachusetts State Police say don't dial *77 to block robocalls on your cell phone because you'll end up calling the Framingham 911 call center.

They tweeted out an urgent message to share Thursday afternoon hours after an article in USA Today suggested it.

In the article on how to stop robocalls, this was written:

Depending on your service, you may have access to Anonymous Call Rejection. Enter the magic number *77, and you will hear three beeps. Hang up, and any call that hides its number will be rejected.

That advice prompted these tweest from the Massachusetts State Police and State 911 Department:

DO NOT dial *77 from your cellular device in Massachusetts in an attempt to block spam calls...it will not work! Dialing *77 in MA generates calls into the State 911 Department's Framingham 911 center that will not translate properly through the 911 system.

By Thursday afternoon, State Police received over 280 calls on this line, which is a legacy number for when people used to dial *SP (or *77) to get in touch with the 911 center.

State Police asked everyone to spread the word in Massachusetts hoping to prevent any future incidents.