In a world where swindlers and sniffers look out for their next victim, they use any means to achieve their aim. And that includes buzzing your phone with spam calls and messages.
Knowing how to prevent such people from contacting you is essential. You can achieve this by blocking spam calls on your iPhone. Besides strangers, you might also want to avoid specific people’s calls at a particular time.
In this article, I’ll show you how to block spam calls on your iPhone and stay in your lane.
How to block unwanted calls on iPhone
Blocking unwanted calls is straightforward on the iPhone.
You’ll consider two scenarios when blocking a phone number; you’ve already stored the number on your contact, or it’s strange (probably a spammer) not in your contact book.
The number is in your contact book
- Open the Phone app.
- Go to Contacts at the bottom of the screen.
- Select the contact you want to block.
- Tap Block this Caller → Block Contact.
The number is not in your contact book but called recently
- Open the Phone app.
- Go Recents towards the bottom-left corner of the screen.
- Tap the (i) icon to the right of the number you want to block.
- Choose Block this Contact → Block Contact.
Note: While you’ll still be able to call and message a blocked contact, you won’t receive calls, FaceTime, or messages from it anymore. However, the blocked number can drop you a voicemail if you want, which you can only listen to when you visit your voicemail inbox.
How to send spam calls to voicemail
If you want to block someone but still want them to reach out, you can send them to your voicemail instead. Well, that’s easy:
- Go to your iPhone Settings → Phone.
- Next, tap Silence Unknown Callers.
- Toggle on the switch to the right of Silence Unknown Callers.
Best apps to block spam calls on your iPhone
1. T-Mobile Scam Shield
You can also use the T-Mobile Scam Shield to avoid unwanted calls if you’re a postpaid customer of the T-Mobile network. The app helps you report suspected scams and unwanted calls. And you can do a reverse number lookup for unknown calls, transfer a blocked contact list over to a new device, and block call categories if you opt for the premium plan.
2. Verizon Call Filter
Verizon Call Filter also helps you block suspected spam calls based on risk level. It works by alerting you if it suspects likely spam calls. You can then choose to block the number if you want. It also features blocked call logs, where you can unblock calls. It also allows you to identify your unknown callers, customize the blocked numbers list, and assess the risk level of potential spam calls if you opt for the paid Call Filter Plus plan.
3. Robo Shield Spam Call Blocker
Robo Shield Spam Call Blocker features filtering technology for blocking pre-recorded calls and other identified robocalls automatically. With this app in hand, you can choose the categories of calls you want to flag, and it blocks them automatically. It also has a lookup feature that lets you unveil unknown numbers. And you can report spam or scam calls to the Federal Trade Commission directly from the app.
4. RoboKiller: Spam Call Blocker
RoboKiller is an intuitive spam call blocker that responds intelligently to your spam callers. It identifies potential spam and scam calls from a database of over 1.4 billion analyzed calls. If you want to hand your scam caller a payback, RoboKiller redirects them to a pre-recorded robot voice before blocking them. You can customize the app’s spam call identification sensitivity, so it doesn’t block calls naively.
5. Truecaller: Block spam calls
Truecaller is one of the best spam calls and SMS blockers out there. It uses a database of organically reported spam calls to identify potentially faulty calls. However, I found this Truecaller comprehensive review helpful if you want to dig further into how it helps deliver a better calling experience.
While there’s no inbuilt setting to identify and block spam calls automatically on the iPhone, you can block them manually or better install third-party spam call filters from the App Store. Any of the apps I recommended earlier works. So you might want to check them out.
Picking the best spam call blocker depends on your preferred features. There are many of them out there. Some are network-specific, while others work, regardless of your network provider. You can pick from any of the apps I recommended above.
You’re more exposed to receiving frequent spam calls if your phone number is all around the place online or if you share it with anyone you’re unfamiliar with. Someone might’ve also shared your number in a public place. To prevent this, you should avoid leaving a personal contact number on your public profile on social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, among many others. But if you must drop your contact, you can use your business phone number instead.
One of the best ways to block spam calls from individuals and robocalls is to use spam call filters. You can also take action from your end by blocking such contact outright. Contact your network provider to report suspected spam calls if things get out of hand.
Blocking spam calls on the iPhone is easy since Apple provides an easy way to go about it. And thankfully, as I pointed out earlier, third-party spam call filters make the process smoother if you don’t want to keep reinventing the wheel.
Got any questions or comments? Let me know in the comments section below.
Read more:
- How to block no caller ID calls on iPhone
- Best iPhone apps for Second phone number
- How to Block a Number on Your iPhone
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