Introduction
If Stockholm based company, Truecaller is to be believed, the United States was the 8th most spammed nation which saw the volume of robocalls increase by an alarming 35 percent last year. The report also claims that over 40 million Americans lost an estimated $10.5 billion due to scam calls. According to Web.com Reviews, authorities and local carriers are constantly increasing their efforts to protect Americans from robocalls and scam calls. However, there are plenty of things you can do to protect yourself. These are listed below:
The Ways
- Block specific numbers on your iPhone/Android – Robocallers cycle through hundreds or even thousands of numbers with telephone prefixes that may be similar to your number. The first thing you can do is to block them as they come in.
On your iPhone, tap the Recents tab on your Phone app and select the info icon next to the target number. Tap block this Caller>Block Contact to block that number
On your Android phone select the Recents tab on your Phone app. Choose the number you want to block and long-press it or tap on it to open a sub-menu (This varies with different OS skins from different manufacturers). Tap on the block/report spam option and confirm the pop-up.
- Block or Silence unknown callers on iPhone/Android – This measure is a bit drastic but highly effective against robocalls and spam calls. You can block all unknown callers on your Android phone and silence all unknown callers on your iPhone.
To silence unknown callers on your iPhone you need iOS 13 or higher. To enable it, go to Settings>Phone and activate the switch to “Silence Unknown callers”. After you enable this option all unknown calls are rerouted to your voicemail and appear on your Recents list.
To block all unknown callers on your Android phone you need to go to the Settings menu of your Phone app. Search for the option that allows you to block all unknown numbers or you can add them manually to the Blocked numbers list.
- Nomorobo – Nomorobo is a third-party app you can install on your phone to filter out robocalls and spam calls. The app scans through a blacklist of known spam numbers and telemarketing callers to block them out as they pop up on your phone. The app also allows you to search for a phone number and identify it as spam.
You can also protect yourself against spam text messages and block advertisements on the web. The service offers you a free two-week trial period and has a subscription charge of 2 dollars every month. For something that is effective against ads on the internet and two other forms of media, the price is quite cheap.
Conclusion
Web.com Reviews believes that you should take all the steps necessary to block out annoying spam calls and robocalls. They are an annoyance at best and malicious at worst. Apart from Nomorobo, you can also try out other third-party apps like Robokiller, Hiya Caller ID, and Block that provide similar services.