If you receive unwanted calls – either from a mischievous marketing company, a persistent ex-partner or something worse – Geek Squad can help! In this guide, we'll show you how to block their numbers and put some distance between you and your nuisance caller.
It's estimated that over 8 billion nuisance calls are made each year, and it's a growing problem. But the good news is, it's also easier than ever to filter or block unwanted callers from contacting you.
With a few small steps, you can stop the unwanted phone calls you're receiving – and in this guide, we'll show you how to deal with the problem.
First of all, we'll look at ways you can find out who exactly is bothering you – then we'll go on to explain the process for blocking calls directly from your smartphone.
Next, we'll explore some of the other options open to you: from contacting your mobile network directly to adding your number to the 'Telephone Preference Service' database. Finally, we'll look at some futher options: contacting your mobile network and, if all else fails, the police.
With this set of tools, you should be able to deal with any nuisance callers who are giving you grief – so read on to find out who might be ringing you, and how you can end their campaign of cold-calling.
- Who's trying to call you?
- How to block callers on your smartphone
- Add your number to the Telephone Preference Service
- Contacting your network
- If all else fails: contacting the police
Who's trying to call you?
There are many sources of nuisance calls – from childish pranks to malicious scare tactics and unethical business practices.
Fortunately, the internet is full of forums where people share information on the unknown phone numbers that call them, and whether they're 'safe' or not.
You can find a great deal of information about a caller by simply googling their phone number, which in most cases will find a website like the one shown above.
From this, you can gauge how 'bad' the call is, and even read reviews left by others who've answered the call and have more information to share. This will yield results for most unscrupulous businesses that ring you without consideration – but may not help if your problem caller is a personal one!
If you've tried searching for a phone number online and found no results, this indicates that you're most likely being called by a person rather than a business. As tempting as it may be, do not post their number on social media to find out more about them. You may find yourself in trouble for invasion of privacy, even if you're on the receiving end of nuisance calls! In this case, you may find that contacting the local police is a far better way to deal with the issue.
How to Block callers on your smartphone
Many smartphones now provide a way for you to block nuisance callers as standard, without having to download any extra apps or make calls to your network provider.
To find out how to block calls on your specific device, click the links below:
Add your number to the Telephone Preference Service (TPS)
To help curtail the number of unwanted calls made from businesses each year, the Telephone Preference Service is a free service that lets you add your number to a 'do not disturb' list – effectively opting out of most marketing calls.
You may still receive calls from companies if you've given them consent to contact you – generally by either ticking (or not ticking) a box on a form or in a webpage.
You can easily add your home or mobile number to the TPS register by visiting the Telephone Preference Service website and clicking Register.
If you feel a company has somehow ignored the TPS register and is still contacting you unsolicited, you can make a complaint through the website too.
Contacting your network
By contacting your network, you can put a stop to unwanted calls before they get anywhere near your handset.
This can be a bit of a long process if you're being called from a variety of phone numbers – but it's a sure-fire way of getting the problem addressed by someone.
Here's a list of the most common UK network providers and their contact details:
- Asda Mobile: http://www.asdamobile.com/contact.html
- EE: http://explore.ee.co.uk/contact-us
- Giff Gaff: http://giffgaff.com/boiler-plate/contact
- Lyca Mobile: http://www.lycamobile.co.uk/en/contactus
- 02: http://www.o2.co.uk/contactus
- Orange: http://explore.ee.co.uk/contact-us
- T-Mobile: http://explore.ee.co.uk/contact-us
- Talk Talk: http://www.talktalk.co.uk/contactus
- Talkmobile: http://www.talkmobile.co.uk/help-and-advice/contact-us
- Tesco Mobile: http://www.tescomobile.com/contact-us
- Three: http://www.three.co.uk/Contact_us
- Virgin: http://www.virginmedia.com
- Vodafone: http://help.vodafone.co.uk
Contacting the police
If you're receiving malicious, abusive or threatening calls, then the first place to contact is your mobile network, so they can put the appropriate blocks on your account.
But if you or your family feel directly threatened, contact your local police by dialling 101 from your mobile or home phone.
Please do note that this is only for genuinely abusive or threatening calls: telemarketers might be annoying, but contacting the police about them is waste of everybody's time.
If the situation is an emergency, and you're worried that you are in immediate danger, you can also contact the police on the emergency 999 number.
Hopefully, this should put an end to your nuisance callers – but if you're having trouble putting any of the advice above into action, drop us a line in the comments and we'll do what we can to help.