How to Silence Unknown and Spam Calls
Imagine you’re in the middle of an incredibly important
task. It could be a work presentation, or school report, or any other personal
project. You’re completely focused on the task when suddenly, you hear your
phone ring or feel it vibrate due to an incoming call. Your concentration is already
affected, but when you actually pick up the phone, you find out it’s a spam
call.
Not only is this the most annoying thing ever, but spam
calls can also be incredibly dangerous. So, here’s why you need to block unknown numbers and
how you can silence
unknown and spam calls on your phone.
What are Spam Calls and Why are They So Dangerous?
Spam calls are basically calls that are inappropriate or not
relevant to you at all. Most of the time, these spam callers obtain and call
your number without permission. Similarly, they don’t just target you but call
hundreds and thousands of other people as well.
As annoying and infuriating as these calls are, there’s not
much you can do about them as these numbers or callers can’t be reported.
There are two types of spam calls: the legal ones and the
illegal ones. Legal spam calls include calls from legitimate organizations and
businesses that are providing necessary consumer information, conducting market
research, or are cold-calling as part of their marketing efforts. What makes
these calls legal is that they are required to identify themselves and provide
their number at the beginning of their call.
Illegal spam calls are what you should be really looking out
for, as these can be quite dangerous. These callers don’t have the best
intentions and basically try to get something from you, such as your
information. They don’t really follow the communication laws, and that’s what
makes them so dangerous.
These calls can be from robots, also known as robocalls, or from
actual people. They will either try to sell you something or claim to give you
something, and in return, ask for your credit card information and details.
Once they get this information, they can steal your money and vanish.
One of the most common forms of these illegal spam calls is
the IRS
phone spam. Some signs
to identify spam calls are that they will claim that you’ve won a prize or
offer you products that you never opted to buy or hear about.
Therefore, the only thing you can do at your end is to set
up some call-blocking measures on your phone.
How to Silence Unknown
and Spam Calls?
Fortunately, most phone manufacturers now include some
call-blocking features in their latest phone models. Now, these won’t be able
to filter and block all the spam calls out there, but they will make some
difference as you can block some numbers.
Another thing to note is that these phones usually use some
form of artificial intelligence and rely on your contacts, messages, and call
history to determine which calls to block and which not to block. So,
sometimes, it can confuse a legitimate call that is not from your contacts or
call history to be a spam call.
Other than that, this the easiest thing you can do to silence unknown and spam calls
without spending any additional money or effort.
·
On Your iPhone
If you own an iPhone, follow these steps to block unknown numbers and
spam calls:
Step 1: Go to Settings.
Step 2: Scroll down till you find the Phone tab and then tap
on it.
Step 3: In your Phone settings, you will see an option for
blocking spam calls as Silence Unknown Callers. Tap on this option.
Step 4: Tap on the toggle to turn this feature on.
With these four easy steps, you can easily turn on or turn
off this feature anytime to block or receive all calls on your iPhone.
·
On Your Android Phone
If you own an Android phone, follow these steps to block
calls from unknown numbers and illegal spammers:
Step 1: Go to your Phone app, which is usually on the bottom
of the home screen.
Step 2: Look for the three dots in the Phone app. This can
be either at the top or bottom corner of the screen. Tap on it to reveal
another menu.
Step 3: From this menu, tap on the Settings option.
Step 4: Look for the option Block Numbers and tap on it.
Step 5: Tap on the toggle to turn this feature on.
·
Third-Party Apps
Alternatively, if you feel that your phone’s built-in
call-blocking feature isn’t screening as many calls as you’d like, you can install
a third-party app. These apps are specifically designed to recognize spam calls
and block them. They will maintain a list of numbers that are marked as spam
and prevent them from calling.
How to Stop Spammers and Unknown Numbers from Calling You in the First
Place?
Most illegal spam callers usually obtain your number through
illegal ways as well, so there’s not much you can do there. However, other than
those, you can take a few steps to stop spammers and unknown numbers from
getting your number in the first place.
You can do this by removing or making sure your number is
not listed on any public domain or website. Hide your phone number from your
social media profiles. Don’t give your number to any registries or add your
number to the ‘Do Not Call’ Registry.
Conclusion
No doubt, these constant calls from unknown numbers and
robots are very annoying and frustrating. However, considering how fast they
are spreading, it can be hard to block them completely out of your life. What
you can do, though, is reduce the frequency of these calls. You can use the
call-blocking features in your phone and follow the steps we’ve outlined to silence unknown and spam calls.
Besides that, however you decide to deal with these unknown
numbers, try not to pick up any of these calls that make it through. More
importantly, never give out any personal information to unknown numbers over a
call, regardless of what they say.
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