Applies to: Anyone with a phone line.
Updated May 2018 to include anyone with a mobile phone too!
Sadly we live in a time where there are loads of spam phone calls. While we can’t avoid them all, there are some things we can do to stop some of them…
Here are my top tips for blocking spam calls before they ring your phone…
- Register with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). It’s free and registers your number on the official list which anyone making marketing calls from the UK must not call. It doesn’t stop people calling you from outside the UK or organisations who break the law, so it’s not foolproof, but it’s a good place to start.
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/ - Some websites suggest making your number ex-directory. But of course, this can affect friends or family getting in touch with you if they have lost your number / lost touch with you. [I once had a call from one of my mum’s friends who lives in France, my parents’ number was ex-directory but mine wasn’t so I was able to help.] You need to contact your phone line provider and ask for this to be done on your account.
- Filling out forms which ask for your phone number, make sure you check/uncheck the box that says something like “We can contact you/pass your number on to select organisations”. Make sure you read it carefully, sometimes you have to opt-out and sometimes you have to opt-in to these things. It’s all very confusing…
- Talk to your phone line provider to see if they offer something called “Call Protect” or “Call Guardian”, this works in the same way as a spam filter on your emails, where some junk calls will get diverted to an answer phone system so you don’t have to speak to a person but if one gets diverted by mistake they can leave you a message. Remember if they ask you to ring them back and leave a number check this number from another location (for example if a ‘bank’ leaves a message, look up the bank phone number on their website), this stops you ringing a scam phone number back again.
BT and PlusNet offer this service along with a few other providers so it could be worth giving yours a ring to find out if they offer it.
Lots of mobile phone service providers offer this service too but some might charge you to add this to your contract. Give them a call first and see what they can offer you. In the grand scheme of things, paying a few extra pounds a month might save you the stress of dealing with spam phone calls! - For mobile phones, you can download an app from your app store. Here’s a few recommended for mobile phones:
Truecaller: Caller ID & Dialer (Android and iPhone)
Hiya – Caller ID & Block (Android and iPhone)
Should I Answer? (Android and iPhone)
Norton Mobile Security – this app has a call blocking feature as well as all the other security features so if you already have it installed, make sure call blocking is switched on.
Got any other tips to share? Drop them in the comments below.
Remember, if a spam call (or a call you think is spam) does get through, take five and hang up.
Stay Safe
Mike π
With thanks to https://help2.talktalk.co.uk/how-do-i-manage-nuisance-calls
Added to the Playlist of music, Blondie, Hanging on the Telephone! What else could it be π Or maybe it could have been “Call Me” by Blondie… I’ve added both just to be sure…
June 29, 2017 at 9:17 pm
Hello Mike,
A year or two ago we were being annoyed by nuisance phone calls and I looked up google for a good inexpensive call blocker system and found one which costs only Β£25. The way it works is that when you receive a nuisance call you give them the star treatment, i.e. you press star and hang up and they can never ring you from that number again. it takes a while to eliminate them all and we have virtually done that as you have to block them one at a time. It is a complete waste of time registering on to the TPS. I did that but they just ignore it and carry on. We get very few nuisance calls nowadays and they are usually from withheld numbers but we don’t usually answer these and they get tired of trying in the end. If anyone is interested in knowing the device which we have please let me know and I will tell you.
June 30, 2017 at 11:51 am
Thanks for the tip Tim π
Love the use of “Star Treatment” in the instructions there π π
June 10, 2017 at 5:59 pm
I registered with TPS some years age and recently I purchased a BT phone with a blocking facility and have registered with BT for their blocking system. However, I still get one international call . The phone rings and before I get to the phone, my answer phone cuts in and then my blocking phone informs the caller I have blocked the call. I have asked BT how I can stop this and it seems they do not know.Have you any ideas?
Regards Bill
June 12, 2017 at 9:58 am
Thanks Bill
Gosh, I’m not too sure how to change this, I suspect it is a bug with the BT system rather than anything we can do… it might be worth contacting BT again and explain the problem. I have found that with BT it’s often a good idea to keep asking for a supervisor when you phone and keep asking until you get to a manager level person (if they let you).
It sounds like you are almost clear of spam calls though!
Thanks
Mike π
June 7, 2017 at 2:20 pm
If it is a recognisable number (that is, you have caller display and the number does not show as “withheld” or “unavailable”), save it to your phonebook directory, assign the name “ignore” (or something similar) and choose a distinctive ringtone if you have that option. Then when that ringtone sounds, ignore it.
I have done this for a long time whenever possible, even though the caller number displayed is obviously fake, such as “00” – the latter has been pestering me almost daily since mid-February but seems to be easy off a little just lately.
It would be possible to do this also with “withheld” or “unavailable”, but this is often displayed when it is my doctor or hospital calling.
Ray
June 7, 2017 at 5:46 pm
There are also a number of phones available which deal very well with unwanted calls. I have a BT8500 which is a cordless phone and is available as a solo,twin or treble phone set.
All these types of phones require ” Number Display ” which is available for a nominal sum from your phone provider.
So what happens? An incoming number which is in your phone’s directory ( which you set ) will ring your phone as normal and if you are unavailable will go to the integral answering machine; if the number is an unknown one the caller will hear a message which invites them to announce themselves and press #, if they do this the phone will ring as above -nuisance calls will not want to do this and then they will get another message which tells them that their call has been rejected.
Computes cannot react to this and they will not get through either.
There will be occasions when somebody legitimate wishes to call you and if there call is coming from an office system you would not be able to put their number in your local phonebook because office systems often require a code to be dailled for them to get an outside line.However, provided they listen to the message and announce themselves they will get through.
Tony
June 9, 2017 at 9:35 am
Ahhhh cool, thanks Tony, that’s a good trick π
June 9, 2017 at 9:28 am
AWesome, thanks for the tip Ray π