Spam Calls Are Getting Out of Hand. Here's How to Fight Back Without Paying for Another App.

Your phone should be a way for people to reach you, not an open invitation for scammers, telemarketers and automated callers to interrupt your day.

Unwanted calls are more than an annoyance. Scammers use them to impersonate banks, government agencies, delivery companies and even people you know. Some are trying to steal your money. Others are trying to collect personal information they can use against you later.

The good news is that you can take several practical steps to reduce these calls. Many of the best protections are already built into your phone or included with your wireless service.

You don't necessarily need to buy another app.

This is one of the most useful protections available.

Instead of answering an unfamiliar number yourself, call screening can answer on your behalf, ask the caller who they are and why they're calling, and let you decide whether to accept the call.

iPhone

Go to:

Settings → Apps → Phone → Screen Unknown Callers

Choose Ask Reason for Calling.

Your iPhone will ask an unsaved caller to identify themselves and explain why they're calling before your phone rings.

You can also choose to silence unknown callers and send them directly to voicemail.

Samsung Galaxy

On compatible newer Galaxy phones:

1. Open the Phone app.
2. Tap the three dots in the upper-right corner.
3. Select Settings.
4. Choose Call screening.
5. Turn on automatic screening for unknown callers.

Samsung's newer AI-powered Call Screening feature requires Android 16 and One UI 8.5 or later. Older Galaxy models may not have this feature.

Google Pixel

1. Open the Phone app.
2. Tap the three dots.
3. Select Settings.
4. Look for Spam and Call Screen or Call Screen.
5. Enable automatic screening and choose your preferred protection level.

Depending on your Pixel model and settings, Google can screen suspicious calls, ask who is calling and why, and show you a live transcript of the conversation.

Important: Features and menu names vary by phone model, software version and region. If you don't see these options, check for a software update.

Your wireless provider may already offer tools to identify or block suspicious calls.

AT&T — ActiveArmor

AT&T offers a free version of its ActiveArmor mobile security service. It provides suspected spam and fraud call alerts and blocking features.

You may need to turn on spam call blocking in the app. Some advanced features require a paid subscription.

Verizon — Call Filter

Verizon's free Call Filter service identifies suspected spam and fraudulent calls and provides call filtering options.

A paid version offers additional features, but many people may find the free protection sufficient.

T-Mobile — Scam Shield

T-Mobile includes free scam and spam protection for eligible customers.

One particularly useful feature is Scam Block, which automatically blocks calls identified as Scam Likely.

To activate it, dial:

#662#

You can also manage protection through T-Mobile's T-Life app.

Remember that no carrier can identify every scam call. Some legitimate calls may also be incorrectly flagged.

You can block a number by opening your recent calls, selecting the number and choosing the block option.

It's worth doing when the same unwanted caller keeps contacting you.

But there's a limitation: scammers frequently change or spoof the numbers displayed on caller ID.

That means blocking one number often does little to stop the next call.

Call screening and carrier-level spam protection are generally more useful long-term defenses.

Your phone number may be circulating among businesses and data brokers that collect and sell personal information.

Removing your information from these databases may reduce some unwanted marketing calls, although it won't eliminate them.

There are commercial services that help remove personal information from data brokers, including:

• Incogni
• Optery
• Cloaked

These are paid services. Compare their prices, coverage and cancellation terms before subscribing. Their results vary, and none can guarantee that your number will disappear from every database.

California residents have another option — and it's free.

The California Delete Request and Opt-out Platform, known as DROP, allows residents to submit one request asking registered data brokers to delete their personal information and stop selling it.

California launched the consumer request platform in January 2026. Data brokers became required to begin processing requests on August 1, 2026.

This is particularly worth knowing about if you live in California. It is a much more convenient approach than contacting individual data brokers one at a time.

However, it is not an instant or universal removal service. It applies to covered data brokers, not every business or organization that holds your information.

Think twice before giving your primary cell number to every website, retailer, business or online service that requests it.

Consider using a separate number for:

• Online shopping.
• Retail loyalty programs.
• Website registrations.
• Classified advertisements.
• Nonessential business inquiries.

This helps keep your primary number reserved for family, friends, healthcare providers and people you actually want to hear from.

There are several options.

Google Voice offers a separate US phone number for calls, texts and voicemail. Many domestic calls are free.

TextNow offers a free, advertising-supported phone number with calling and texting options.

Your wireless carrier may also offer an additional line for a monthly fee.

One caution: Free secondary numbers aren't appropriate for every purpose. Some banks and financial services reject virtual or internet-based numbers for verification. Check the service's terms and privacy practices before using one.

If you haven't already registered your number, it's worth doing.

The Federal Trade Commission's National Do Not Call Registry is free.

You can register both cell and home phone numbers.

Registration doesn't block calls itself. It tells legitimate telemarketers not to call you. It can reduce unwanted sales calls from businesses that follow the law.

But here's the important distinction: Scammers don't follow the rules.

Being registered will not stop criminals who make illegal calls, use spoofed numbers or operate from overseas.

Still, registration is a sensible step that costs nothing.

If you don't recognize a number, let it go to voicemail.

A legitimate caller can leave a message.

If you answer and hear a recorded sales pitch, don't press a number to speak to an operator or supposedly remove yourself from the list. The FTC warns that interacting with illegal robocalls can lead to more unwanted calls.

If a legitimate business calls you, you can ask to be removed from its calling list. Keep a record of when you made the request.

You can also report unwanted calls to the Federal Trade Commission. If you lost money or provided information to a scammer, report the incident to the FTC's fraud reporting service.

This may be the most important precaution of all.

Scammers can manipulate caller ID to make a call appear to come from a familiar local number, a government agency, a healthcare provider or even your bank.

This is known as caller ID spoofing.

A familiar name or number on your screen does not prove who's calling.

If someone claims to represent your bank, Medicare, Social Security or another organization and asks for personal information, account details or money, don't take their word for it.

Hang up.

Then contact the organization yourself using a phone number printed on an official statement, the back of your bank card or its official website or app.

Never use a callback number supplied by a suspicious caller.

Some phones offer call recording, and it might seem useful to record a suspicious caller or discourage scammers.

But don't assume that recording is automatically legal just because your phone has the feature.

California has strict consent requirements for recording confidential conversations, including telephone calls. Under California Penal Code Section 632, consent from all parties is generally required.

If you want to record a call, understand the applicable consent requirements first.

You don't need to record a scammer to protect yourself. Hanging up is usually the better option.