Hi, Interesting. What apps are available in the UK App Store to do such a task? I searched for "Nomorobo", and no dice. Currently I block unwanted calls manually, but would be nice to have this done for me. Thank you.
> On 18 Apr 2017, at 01:55, M. Taylor <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hello All, > > I hope you find the following article helpful. > > Mark > > HOW TO STOP THOSE ANNOYING, ENDLESS ROBOCALLS TO YOUR SMARTPHONE > By Jennifer Jolly, Special for USA Today. > > Have you noticed an uptick in those super annoying robocalls, telemarketers, > and scams hitting up your smartphone all hours of the day and night? I have, > and it's driving me nuts. Last month, I had a bogus call to lower my > electricity bill. A few weeks ago, it was a pause after I said hello, then a > woman saying, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I'm adjusting my headset,' before launching > into a sales pitch of some sort. And then there's the daily deluge of > numbers that look legit ' like my daughter's school calling, or a media > outlet from Manhattan ' only to end up being an obvious scam. This is George > Michael,' says a male caller with a heavy accent, 'calling from your online > pharmacy with your diet medication. Talk about adding insult to injury. > According to the Federal Communications Commission , there are nearly 2.4 > billion robocalls made every month. That's more than 7'calls per person, > according to new research from the YouMail Robocall Index. At best, the > calls are frustrating. At worst, they're robbing us blind . So what can we > do about it once and for all? Let's start with a little self-education. How > the heck are these criminal-callers getting our cell numbers in the first > place? If you don't post it publicly across social media, use it on shady > shopping sites, or shout it out to every telemarketer who calls ' how is it > getting out there? The Better Business Bureau recommends Googling your own > number. Do it. I'll wait. Was it there? Mine was. It might not be alongside > your name, but chances are it's there, collected by a 'people search' > company like Nuwber that aggregates information from 'White Pages listings, > Public Records and Social Network Information. Thanks to modern technology, > these lists are now easy for cyber scammers to scrape. 'And that's how the > the robo-games begin. Related: Putting your number in the Do Not Call > registry is one step to blocking robocalls. (Photo: Jennifer Jolly for USA > TODAY.) If you haven't already, add your cell number to the National Do Not > Call list . I just went there to verify that I'm on the list and sure > enough, I've been registered since February 2006. So much for that. > Obviously, it doesn't fix the issue all the way around, but it does help > keep legitimate companies from cold-calling you. Sadly for us, the bad-guys > have easy workarounds (like #1). If you're already on the Do Not Call > Registry and still get hit up, report the calls to the FTC , which compiles > the reports and hands out the fines. You can also block them right from your > smartphone and block any spammy texts too. Here's where to block calls on > your iPhone. (Photo: Jennifer Jolly for USA TODAY) On iPhones , tap the > green phone icon on your home screen, select the 'Recents' tab on the bottom > of the screen, then tap the blue 'i' information icon next to the phone > number you want to block. A screen pops up with a bunch of options and at > the very bottom you'll find 'Block This Caller. Tap it and then when the > verification screen appears, confirm your decision. On most Androids , there > are two easy ways to block numbers. If you're on the standard version of > Android 6.0 you can go into your call log and long-press on the number you > want to block, then select 'Block number' from the pop-up menu. If you're > using a version of Android other than the stock version (or if you don't > know which version you're actually using) you can select 'Settings' and then > 'Call blocking,' then tap 'Add number' and type in the number you want to > block. Blocked calls on my iPhone using Nomorobo. (Photo: Jennifer Jolly/USA > TODAY) There are a handful of apps that promise enough anti-spam ammo to > stop annoying calls for good. They all require a bit of set-up, but the > toughest part of that so far for me has just been remembering my AT&T > password. (You'll need the provider password for some of them.) Nomorobo - > (iOS) This is my best of these apps I've reviewed to date ' so it's no > surprise that it won a competition by the FTC . After you download the app > onto your device, you can sign up for a free trial for 30-days, or commit > right away to either $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year. (If you don't > remember to cancel your sign-up, you'll be auto-billed.) After you install > the app, it prompts go into your iPhone's settings, select 'Phone' then tap > 'Call Blocking & Identification' and tap Nomorobo to enable it. Back in the > Nomorobo app, it asks you to enter your phone number for verification (to > make sure you're not a robocaller yourself). After that ' you're done. You > can send yourself a test robocall to see exactly how it all works. When a > sketchy telemarketer hits up your phone number, your call screen shows a big > red dot and a note that says 'Robocaller' so you know to avoid it. There's > even an option in the app to block these calls automatically, before they > even reach your smartphone screen. Nomorobo swears it doesn't block > legitimate calls from pharmacies, schools, or other important institutions ' > because it 'analyzes millions of calls made to hundreds of thousands of > phone lines every single day. While it doesn't want to say much more about > its secret sauce than that, I'm using it and it seems to be working well. > Truecaller - This paid app ( iPhone , Android , Windows Phone ) reports that > it's collected more than 3-billion phone numbers and relies on information > from users to filter out the scams. When the app identifies a specific phone > number as robocall or scam, it lets you know with an alert on the call > screen. The website says it gets its information from a central database > that is constantly being updated with new phone numbers. Set up is similar > to NoMoRobo. Download the app, follow the prompts. I like that you get link > it to Facebook to auto-fill and there's an animated screen that shows you > the entire set-up process. It doesn't get much easier than that. There are > several pricing options, but you end up paying about $1.50 per month for the > full suite of features. Because Truecaller queries a central database for > information on each number, the app requires a data connection to identify > new callers, so keep that in mind if you often find yourself in places > without 3G or 4G available. Steps to enable Spam ID on TrueCaller. (Photo: > Jennifer Jolly for USA TODAY) Enough is enough! I posted a message on this > topic in my Facebook feed, and dozens of people chimed in. Other people have > good things to say about similar apps such as PrivacyStar , Mr. Number , > Hiya , and YouMail . We'll try those and deliver an updated anti-spam > round-up with the next few weeks. Have you found a clever way to outsmart > robocalls? Be sure to let us know in the comments section below. > > Original Article at: > https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2017/04/16/how-to-stop-robocal > ls-on-iphone-smartphone-android/100474848/ > > > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if > you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or > moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: > [email protected]. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at > [email protected] > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. 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