The telephone has become a normal part of our lives. We use our mobile phones very often. Yet it can be maddening to have to take so many calls every day. We often get calls from people we don’t know and don’t want to talk to. These are various marketing and solicitation campaigns or even scammers. How can we ideally block such calls?

Blocking calls

Scammers can use the internet to make calls from all over the world. They don’t care if you are on the National Telephone Number Register. That’s why it’s a good idea to define yourself against unwanted calls by blocking them without mercy. What type of blocking you use depends on what type of phone you own. Either way, call blocking can be done on Android, iPhone and, of course, landlines if necessary.

They don’t answer foreign numbers

Many people simply don’t answer foreign numbers. But then there are those who have to. They’re on business or they’re worried that someone from daycare, school or another organisation is calling them. Yet most of us just don’t take strangers’ calls. According to YouGov research, more than 40% of respondents in the United States said they don’t take calls from strangers, and 35% of those surveyed rarely answer such calls. The reason? Many expect it to be spam. And they just don’t want it in their lives.

━━ ( Source: Paul Hanaoka /  Unsplash+ )

Locking on iPhone

Apple offers powerful tools to block spam calls. Just mute unknown callers in your phone’s settings. This option sends unknown numbers straight to voicemail. Alternatively, there’s also an option on the iPhone to block specific numbers. If you want to detect spam, it’s a good idea to use third-party apps. And it’s not a bad idea to report spam to Apple.

Blocking for Androids

Of course, other mobile phones on the market also allow spam blocking. They have effective tools. It’s a good idea to enable caller ID and spam protection in your phone’s settings. Alternatively, as with the iPhone, Androids can block specific numbers. You can do this, for example, if you receive an unsolicited call and you don’t want to receive it in the future.

Even Do Not Disturb mode can be set to allow certain numbers or simply disable certain numbers. There’s also Google Assistant, which can filter unknown calls and provide prescriptions. It works on Pixel phones. Samsung then also offers built-in caller ID and spam protection. Just turn it on in your phone’s settings. Last but not least, of course, on all Androids, it’s also possible to block numbers you don’t want to answer and report spam.

Third-party apps

Third-party apps also protect mobile phone users from spam. These include Hiya, RoboKiller and Truecaller. These apps provide advanced protection from spam calls beyond the built-in features on your phone. They maintain databases of spam numbers that they update in real time. Some apps then also offer call filtering, auto-blocking, voicemail filtering or AI assistants. Most allow you to customize call block lists and view caller profiles.