Do not waste any more time answering suspicious numbers, identify them and block them, several solutions are available to you.
Often, it doesn’t take much for your precious cell phone number to end up in the call listings of companies that sell canvassing. Whether you forgot to check the box on a form to indicate that you do not want your number to be passed on to third parties, or if you simply used your number to post an ad on Leboncoin, the companies behind unwanted calls are often increasingly aggressive when it comes to canvassing.
Any pretext is good to call you: a promise to lower your taxes, your electricity bill, or even a proposal for a preferential rate for a fiber subscription that you do not need, companies who are followers of this practice are very active. often with cat and mouse so as not to be spotted, in particular by frequently changing the number.
But there are other threats to your phone. Spam and other scams, by SMS, exist in different forms: SMS inviting you to call back a surcharged number and others “Ping call” (calls from premium rate numbers or from abroad that leave only one ring in the hope that you call them back) can, if they are not correctly identified, strongly increase your telephone bill.
If it remains quite difficult to get rid of all these parasites permanently, there are several solutions that, once in place, will allow you to limit or even drastically reduce these repeated unwanted calls.
1. Block numbers from your smartphone
This might make sense, and the majority of advanced users probably already know the trick. On iOS and Android, unwanted numbers can be blocked both from text messages and from the call log. But for laymen, finding this option is not always easy.
On ios
On your iPhone, from SMS, press the i button displayed at the top of the window, then enter info. At the bottom of the contact card, tap Block this correspondent.
The handling from the call log is more or less the same. Press the i button displayed to the right of the line concerning the number to block, and press Block this correspondent in the contact card that is displayed.
On android
From your Android smartphone, handling is even easier. From SMS, make a long press on the number to block, and tap on the button with a prohibition sign at the top right.
A Block and report as spam pop-up is displayed. Check the Report as spam box and confirm by pressing OK.
By doing so, the number and message of the malotru will be automatically transferred to Google and your operator. Messages from blocked numbers will be automatically stored in the Spam and Blocked Conversation section, accessible from the option menu of the Messages application.
From the Android call log, tap and hold the suspicious number, then in the option menu that appears, choose to Block / report as spam. Then validate the blocking by pressing Block in the pop-up that appears.
2. Download Orange Telephone
Not many people know it, but Orange offers a free app that can let you know when a suspicious number calls you. Orange Telephone, that’s its name, is available for free on iOS and Android and is not intended only for the operator’s customers. All users on iOS and Android, all operators combined, can install and use it.
This application works as a spam filter and will allow you to identify direct sales calls as well as malicious calls.
Thanks to a database of numbers, known to be unwanted or malicious, loaded into the application, Orange Telephone displays directly on the call screen of your smartphone, a “malicious call” or “commercial canvassing” indication. These indications are also kept in the Call log.
Be careful, however, to make the most of the features on Android, Orange Telephone needs to be used instead of your usual Telephone application.
On iOS, you can also contribute, as a user, to the reporting of unwanted numbers that contact you. All you have to do is copy the number from the call log, then paste it into the application to indicate if the number is malicious or canvassing.
- Download Orange Telephone for Android (Free)
- Download Orange Telephone for iPhone (Free)
3. Report spam by SMS
To complete your anti-spam arsenal, be aware that it is possible to report unwanted SMS to a dedicated platform. If some SMS indicate that it is possible to send a simple STOP so as not to be bothered by the sender of the message, some SPAM does not offer any solution to “unsubscribe” your number.
All that remains is to report the unwelcome visitors to 33 700, an official service for reporting SPAM by SMS to the authorities.
To do this, you must first transfer the message concerned to 33700. The service will then ask you to complete your report by returning the telephone number to report in response.
On ios
To Forward a message, long press the message bubble and tap More. The message should then be selected. Then press the transfer button, at the bottom right, then in the window for writing a new SMS, enter 33700 in recipient and send the message.
After receiving the response from 33700, complete your report by sending the number concerned in response to the message.
On android
Transferring a message is just as easy. Keep your finger pressed on the disputed message to select it, press the option button represented by three small dots, and choose to Forward it, in a New Message, and indicate the 33700 in the recipient box.
You will then receive a confirmation SMS. You will then have to respond by entering the telephone number of the sender of the message to complete your report.