Schumer: Consumers should be able to block robocalls

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer says consumers should have the ability to block robocalls on landlines and mobile phones.

The New York Democrat announced Wednesday that he's supporting legislation to require all phone carriers to make call-blocking tools available for free to customers. The technology prevents the automated calls from ringing through by identifying suspicious phone numbers or calls, similar to how email spam filters catch unwanted emails.

Schumer cited statistics that Americans received 3.4 billion robocalls last month, an increase of nearly 1 billion calls compared to the same month a year ago.

The Senate minority leader says the automated phone calls are not only a nuisance but can also hurt consumers financially by exposing them to scams.