Tired of Those Annoying Spam Calls? Here’s How to Stop Them

Your phone will ring and you will see “Unknown number” as the caller ID. You may choose to ignore it, but if you’re waiting for a response from someone, perhaps a potential job offer or even an install person, you pick it up. You soon realize that this is not the call you were expecting. Instead, it’s an unsolicited call.

This year alone, Americans are expected to get more than 52 billion automated callswhich breaks down into nearly a billion calls each week, according to YouMail, a company that specializes in blocking them.

These invitations come in all shapes and sizes. You’ll likely be aware of good “potential scam” calls, but there are also more sophisticated attacks, which involve spoofing local numbers, as well as those of famous companies, to convince you to give up your personal information and money. Recently, these attacks have moved to SMS, where there are Phishing text messages come from your phone number.

No matter what the calls say, one thing is for sure – they should stop.

Last year, the FCC aimed to solve the robocall problem by requiring major wireless carriers to do so Start using the Stir/Shaken technique. move / shake Verifies all incoming and outgoing calls to wireless carriers that are routed through their networks. By checking every call, carriers can reduce the number of fake or scam calls. But it only stops automated calls one way – it’s not everything and the end of everything. You can still receive unwanted calls for free flights or fake notifications that your student loan payment is past due.

Read more: CNET Interview with FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworsel

You can read more about Shake / Shake Here. As the FCC continues its crusade, keep reading this story to find out the things you can do to help reduce the number of times your phone rings throughout the day with calls from potential scammers.

How to keep annoying bot calls to a minimum

According to the Federal Communications CommissionThere are some easy steps you can take to help reduce bot calls:

• Do not answer calls from blocked or unknown numbers.
• Do not answer calls from numbers you do not know.
• Don’t assume that an incoming call is actually from a local number just because it looks like it is.
• Don’t answer any questions that can be answered with a “yes”.
• If someone calls you and claims to work with Company XYZ, hang up and call the company yourself. Use the company’s website to find an official number.
• If you answer a call and hear a recording like, “Hey, can you hear me?” Just hang up.
• The same applies to a call where you are asked to press a number before calling a representative.

When you answer a call and interact with the voice prompt or by pressing a number, it lets spammers know that your number is real. They can then sell your number to another company or start targeting your number more frequently.

When it was first launched, google call screen The feature arguably goes against FCC advice by replying and interacting with the robocall on your behalf. but, Google has added new features to the call screen for him Pixel phone lineup. The feature can now detect and block bot and unwanted calls before they reach you. Google Assistant will interact with the caller, and if it determines that the call is legitimate, it will route the call to your phone.

iPhone Apple He has a choice Silence Unknown Callers, which adds the option to forward calls from numbers not in Contacts, Mail, or Messages directly to Voicemail. Any legitimate caller can leave a message. But here’s the problem: We often get important calls from numbers we don’t store on our phones, like a doctor’s or repairman’s office, so you might miss important calls this way. But if all else fails and you are desperate to stop the automated calls, this is a valid option.

If you find yourself getting a lot of unwanted text messages, you can message forwarding to the number 7726 (which stands for “spam”). This number will not prevent text messages from being sent to you right away, but it will allow your carrier to look at its source and put a stop to it.

Check with your wireless carrier

All four major wireless carriers offer some kind of call blocking feature. They all have a free option and a premium tier. But let’s be frank, all automated call blocking services should be free. This shouldn’t be a way for carriers to make some money from us.

• AT&T Call Protection The app is available for iOS and Android. The free version blocks spam and scam calls, provides annoying warning stickers, a personal block list, and you can block all unknown callers. Call Protect Plus runs $4 per month per line, with added benefits of caller ID for unknown numbers, reverse number lookup, and dedicated call controls.
• Verizon call filter Application Enabled automatically For Android users on a postpaid plan. The service offers spam detection, a spam filter, a call history for blocked or unwanted calls, the ability to allow calls from specific numbers (iOS only) and the option to report numbers for free. You can pay $3 a month (or $8 a month for three or more service lines) for a caller ID, spam search, personal block list, and spam risk meter. Call filter is integrated Most Android devices Out of the box (which you may have been asked for) but also available at App Store for iOS Users.
• T-Mobile Cheat Shield Free for all customers and includes multiple features designed to protect you from automated calls and the sharing of your personal information. Dial #662# from your phone to turn on “Scam Block”, or download the free “Scam Shield” app in your phone’s App Store. With Phishing Shield enabled, you’ll get full caller ID, scam reporting, phishing blocking before your phone ever rings, and the option to mark numbers as favorites so your phone can still be connected.

Are you using a different wireless carrier? I suggest contacting their customer support or visiting their website to see if they offer a similar service.

Use a third-party app to limit the number of bot calls you get

If your service provider doesn’t offer an app or service to cut back on robocalls, or does offer but it’s expensive, there are plenty of third-party apps available. You want to find an app that works on your device, offers you automatic call blocking, spam alerts for suspicious calls, and makes it easy to report a number if a call occurs.

Welcome It is a free app that I have been using on Android and iOS for some time now with success. It’s from the same company that powers AT&T’s Call Protect app, as well as Samsung’s built-in call blocking and spam protection. Samsung Galaxy owners can enable the built-in service in the phone app below Settings > Caller ID And the Spam protection. Setup is easy, and provides an easy way to report a number.

Nomurobo It’s the service Verizon uses for Fios users, but it also has a phone app. The service is free for VoIP users and costs $2 per month for mobile users. Includes additional services with similar capabilities YouMail And the Robocaller.

The firewall application It’s only available on iPhone and does a great job of blocking calls. In the event that you need to make a call that you would rather not use your real phone number for, the $4 per month subscription offers unlimited fake phone numbers for single use.

Another option is to register for free Google Voice phone number You can use it to sign up for things instead of giving out your real number — and once automated calls start hitting that Google Voice number, use the block feature. Just know that blocking calls can end up being a lot of work, because bot callers are constantly spoofing different phone numbers.

None of the solutions above are ideal, but they complement the technology carrier integration that is now required for caller spoofing verification. So now you have to do some extra work to minimize the number of bot calls you receive. Between being careful about calls from unknown numbers and using a service (paid or free), you can reduce the number of unwanted calls and spam you have to deal with.

In short, carriers began to use Pan/vibrate technology to check callers, which has yet to significantly reduce the number of bot calls we all receive. So for those who have an iPhone, Learn where to set up to block unknown callers, but remember that using it could mean you miss calls from doctors’ offices and the like. And for those who have a Pixel phone, Google call screen feature He will definitely help you, and maybe even entertain you.