Busy life enough without wasting time on spammers, scammers and telemarketers. Whether you’re dealing with grievous injury lawyers, fraudulent auto insurance agents, or a drunken dial ex, there’s a way to stop the endless calls and texts. . Major carriers and phone manufacturers have upped the game against unwanted calls and texts in recent years, so let’s see how you can effectively block them.
We also have a guide on how to avoid spam with disposable contact information, watch out for beating attacksand avoid scams. Frustrated with the whole situation and curious why no one has been able to stop the spam calls? See WIRED senior writer Lily Hay Newman’s post on eternal robot hell.
Things need to notice
Before diving into the blocking options, there are a few things to know:
- If possible, don’t answer any calls from numbers you don’t recognize. Callers with anything important to say will likely leave a message. Sadly, this won’t work for people whose business or hobby involves a lot of calls from unknown numbers.
- Never click on links or attachments in spam text messages as it can trigger malware. If possible, avoid opening them completely.
- Never reply to a spam text message, as it will confirm that your number is valid.
- If you are concerned that the call or text may be from a legitimate company, try entering the number into your preferred search engine. While it can be difficult to confirm a scammer’s number, it is very easy to verify a legitimate number. If you can’t find anything on the chart, be cautious and ignore it. We’ll explain how to block numbers, but it’s also important to report unwanted calls and messages. If it’s telemarketing, scams, or spam, you can Report it to the FTC here. You can also add your number to the Do Not Call Registry, although it only works for sales calls from reputable companies. Sadly, many organizations and scammers ignore it. We’ll dive into how to report numbers to manufacturers, service providers, and third parties below. The more people do this, the easier it will be to identify and pre-empt or label nuisance numbers.
How to block calls and messages on iPhone
Apple via Simon Hill
It’s easy to block individual numbers on your iPhone. Here’s how to do it:
