We are so used to text, audio and video communications that the first thing we do when receiving a call from an unknown number is suspicious. It is very rare that someone makes a mistake when calling (we are all saved in contact agendas), so it is most likely a business call.
What you think right now we all think: we hate these calls. And more when we read “unknown number” on the iPhone screen. Let’s see what we can do to identify who is behind these calls and block them so they don’t bother us anymore.
iPhone applications that identify SPAM numbers
Let’s leave the term well defined: we consider SPAM calls to all those who make us without notice and who intend to sell us something, make us participate in surveys that do not interest us or even worse: deceive us. Obviously they are calls that we never appreciate.
Identifying these calls on an iPhone is a bittersweet method. There are apps dedicated to identifying those calls, but you can’t block them due to the closedness of the iOS system itself. What these applications do is silence those calls, and the price of doing so is giving up an amount of data that is not very comforting. But sometimes, when faced with calls that are too insistent, it can be a solution. The most popular applications of this type are several:
- TrueCaller is perhaps the most popular. It has one of the largest lists of business numbers, and includes information on the call screen so you can identify a spammer without having to pick up. You have it for free in the App Store, with integrated purchases that remove ads and give extra features.
- Hiya. Another application similar to TrueCaller, which according to our colleagues at Xataka Móvil has a database that Samsung uses in its terminals. Free in the App Store, and from what the store says requires less private data from our device.
- Call Blocker is yet another alternative with its own list of commercial and SPAM numbers so that you can immediately rule them out before one of their calls. You have it free in the App Store with integrated purchases.
If, on the other hand, the number that calls you does not appear on the screen and appears as ‘Unknown’, iOS has a native tool that does not block but alleviates the problem: it silences all calls from unknown numbers. You can find the option in Settings, Phone section:
Whose number called you?
If with the previous applications you have not been able to identify the number, then it is probably not even a business call. In this situation there are some other actions that we should not ignore either:
- Can look up the number on Google Maps or Apple Maps. Here the idea is that if the phone is part of a business registered on those maps, you will easily find its information and address. Who knows, maybe it’s the library reminding you that you have to return a book from three years ago.
- You also have the option to search for the number in listspam, a website where you can search for suspicious numbers to be able to identify them as SPAM. Another website very similar to Listaspam is Who called?.
- Another trick that we apply ourselves with worrying results for our privacy: look for the number on social networks like Instagram or LinkedIn. You can find a lot of information about its owner.
- Google the number it can also offer you some answers if the rest of the options don’t give you results.
If you still discover that the number is SPAM, you can also use the Robinson List to enter your number in it. It is a legal way to ask the companies that you do not want to call you, and you can complain to the AEPD if those companies ignore the list.
Beware of calling back
Our final advice in the face of these SPAM numbers is that don’t return calls from numbers you don’t know, especially if its numbering is strange and/or longer than usual or it is an unknown number. It is in these cases when scammers and commercials take advantage of our curiosity to try to sell us something or deceive us.
It’s simple: if in the end the person who calls you is a person with no bad intentions, they will call again. And if he doesn’t call you, it means it wasn’t about anything important. WhatsApp is for something.
Image | hannes johnson
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