I Found the Only Fix for Scam Calls That Actually Works

Nobody likes spam calls. There’s nothing more infuriating than being interrupted in the middle of dinner just to hear an argument for car insurance, a pointless inquiry, or ten seconds of dead air. It seems like an inevitable part of owning a phone, but you don’t have to sit back and let “Scam Likely” ruin your afternoon.

The good news is that you don’t have to accept these interruptions as a fact of life. You can actually stop them with a remarkably simple solution. Imagine never having to deal with a mysterious number again; It’s the kind of digital peace everyone’s wanted since the first telemarketer bought a headset.

We have the exact details on how to ban these calls once and for all. If you’re ready to stop being the target of every scammer with an autodialer, here’s how to get your phone back.

To learn more, here are five signs your information is on the dark web and seven tips for keeping your phone safe.

The number of scam calls can’t be that bad, right?

I feel like I’m being overly dramatic, but everyone I know experiences scam calls. It’s not just anecdotal: voice security company Hiya has figures to back it up.

Based on an analysis of 221 billion phone calls made in 2023 and surveys of thousands of people, U.S. consumers received an average of eight spam calls per week, Hiya found. Among those who reported being scammed, the average amount lost was $2,257, an increase of 527% from the previous year.

Money-grabbing schemes aren’t the only problem. AI is used to impersonate influential people on calls to influence behavior. In this election year in the United States, the Federal Communications Commission has already banned AI-based robocalls following an incident in which a Texas company created a robocall impersonating President Joe Biden, telling Democrats not to vote in the New Hampshire primary; the FCC proposed a $6 million fine for the incident.

So, what can we do to reduce scam calls?

In 2021, the FCC required a technology called Stir/Shaken to be adopted by all major voice providers in the United States. This requires them to check where calls are coming from in order to accurately identify them for caller ID. Congress also passed legislation to require carriers to track their anti-robocall efforts.

In December 2023, the FCC adopted new rules to strengthen its existing policies by making it more difficult for telemarketers to deliver unwanted calls and text messages to consumers.

The problem is that these technologies and regulations designed to mitigate scam calls are not adequate.

Margot Saunders, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, reiterated this fact. “We have maintained for some time that Stir/Shaken does not work to ensure accurate caller ID (which is all it is designed to do), because voice service providers are able to lease thousands of phone numbers to telemarketers and scammers, allowing callers to technically comply with Stir/Shaken without revealing meaningful or accurate caller ID,” Saunders said. “The number of spam calls is about the same as it has been for years.”

Although Saunders believes the FCC’s change in December 2023 will make a big difference in the number of telemarketing calls, “it won’t take effect until early 2025, and it will take some time for the litigation to have a beneficial impact,” she said. “Most telemarketing calls are made on behalf of U.S. companies, and only the threat of costly litigation is likely to reduce these calls.”

You know where this is going with spam calls

There are all kinds of things you can do to try to reduce spam calls, from installing third-party call screening apps to enabling scam blocking services offered by your phone manufacturer or cell phone carriers – some of which require additional fees, making this “fix” even more of a hassle.

The FCC takes a different approach to dealing with spam calls. It depends more on what you shouldn’t do and less on what scam blocking services can do.

• Do not assume that a caller ID number displayed with a local prefix is ​​actually from your area.
• Do not respond to a caller or recording asking you to press a button or answer questions. Do not answer “Yes”.
• Never believe someone from an unknown number who claims to represent a company or government agency: hang up and call a publicly accessible number to verify that the request is legitimate. The IRS, for example, said it generally contacts taxpayers by regular mail and not by phone call or text message.

Don’t answer your phone. That’s it. That’s the answer.

So how do you know when a call is suspicious? Easy: suppose they all are.

Unless the caller ID identifies someone in your phone’s contacts list or you recognize the number (does anyone remember phone numbers anymore?), assume it’s a scam call.

Simply answering a suspicious call with “Hello” can open the door to more scam calls because it tells the scammer that there is a human behind your number and, more importantly, that that human is answering their phone. The number can then be sold to other companies.

It’s a nihilistic approach to phone calls, I know. The volume of robocalls is so high that an incoming call is more likely to be spam. Like I said, scammers messed up phone calls.

Send calls to voicemail

So the solution is to ignore every call? How about having your doctor’s office call you back to schedule a test: should you add all the phone numbers and extensions they use to your contacts? What happens if a friend’s phone battery dies and they use someone else’s phone to call you for a ride? Won’t important calls be ignored?

There is a narrow ray of light in the darkness of telephony. Unless the call is from someone you know, let it go straight to voicemail. The best method is to let it ring, as even actively refusing the call can be enough to alert scammers that they have an active number. On iPhone and Android, press the Sleep/Wake button once to stop the ringtone on your end. The caller will continue to hear ringtones until the call is automatically sent to voicemail.

With voicemail on most phones, you can see a list of pending messages, often with a rough voice transcription for each. I can tell at a glance that unknown callers who leave 4-second messages are most likely scammers, and I can skim through anything longer without listening to the full message.

You can even avoid interruption of call reception. On iPhone, go to Settings > Phone > Silence unknown callers and turn it on Silence unknown callers to change. Anyone not in your contacts, outgoing call list, or Siri Suggestions gets access to voicemail without ringing the phone. Android phones have a similar feature called Filter unwanted calls located in the Phone app settings or in a call screening feature, depending on the device.

You can also screen a call without picking up on certain devices. With Apple’s Live Voicemail feature in iOS 17 and later, ignore the incoming call, then press the button Voicemail on the lock screen if the caller has not hung up. As they leave their message, iOS transcribes it in real time and you can break in and talk to the person if you need to take a call.

On Android, Google Call Screen uses Google Assistant to answer the call, interact with the caller, and create a real-time transcript. At Google I/O 2024, the company showed off a next-generation variation of this feature, which leverages its Gemini AI tool to listen to a call you’re on and display alerts if it appears to be a scam call.

However, these characteristics are unlikely to contribute significantly to the overall problem. “We believe these tools are not useful for several reasons,” Saunders said, emphasizing that only informed and cautious consumers are likely to use them and that the privacy implications of this type of live surveillance are potentially enormous.

“The best way to stop illegal calls,” Saunders said, “is to punish the providers who make and transmit them. This point has been made repeatedly to the FCC.”

Seriously, stop answering your phone

Look, I want to believe that there is a technical way out of this mess. Some conversations are really better on the phone, without the risk of misunderstanding via texting or needing to sound half human on a video call. As long as scam calls profitably trap people, scammers will also improve their techniques (like creating AI voices that imitate a friend or family member).

We can make it harder for scammers by doing the simplest thing.

Don’t answer your phone.

For more security tips, here’s how to protect your data on Wi-Fi and how to remove your data from the Internet.