Thanks for the link, Leif. By and large most spam-blockers i have seen miss the point about NOT interrupting activities at my emd.
1. Reject Anonymous Calls Automatically; Depending on your service, you may have access to Anonymous Call Rejection. Try this on your landline. Make sure your caller ID is activated. Enter the magic number *77, and you will hear three beeps. Hang up, and any call that hides its number will be rejected.
I will ask my service provider about spam calls in general.
My overall aim is to dis-allow an unknown caller to ring the phone. By the time I have walked to my phone, my activity has been disturbed. Walking to the phone to respond to a call from someone I know is one thing, but anyone else can leave a message.
2. Join the National Do Not Call Registry List
In Canada this is a joke; introduced a dozen years ago I had friends who signed up (“At last!”) and then were dismayed to learn that very few spammers registered as spammers. I think it was a government make-work project to reduce unemployment figures.
3. Use Carrier Tools to Block Unwanted Calls; The four major carriers have tools to identify, filter and prevent suspected nuisance numbers from calling or texting your phone. Most require an extra monthly fee to activate the caller ID service, but network-level blocking is free of charge across all the carriers.
I will ask my service provider about spam calls in general.
4. Use the Best Apps to Block Robocalls; Nomorobo is an iOS and Android app that offers real–time protection from a growing list of robocallers, telemarketers and phone scammers.; Another great feature of Truecaller is its ability to block spam calls. When a pesky telemarketer calls, there will be a big warning in red, telling you that it's a spam call. Just swipe up when this happens to automatically block that caller and add them to the spam list.
Bingo! “When a pesky telemarketer calls ...” means that I have interrupted my activity to respond to a call that I didn’t want in the first place. Not a solution.
Call Control – Call Blocker; The Call Control – Call Blocker app automatically blocks spam calls and calls from other numbers you don't want to hear from. You can block entire area codes (like 888) if you're getting tons of calls you don't want from a particular location. The Call Control app is free and available for both Apple and Android gadgets.
So far this is the only promise of blocking specific area codes.
5. Some Phones Block Robocalls Automatically
Not my LGK30 Android; I have looked, searched, and looked again.
6. Block Individual Phone Numbers
Not a solution. There are more hacked numbers out there than I have time for. “
Whack a mole” comes to mind.
7. Set Your Phone on Do Not Disturb
Not an option. When my new lawnmower is en route, I WANT to be disturbed and alerted that the mower will arrive at my doorstep in the next 30 minutes.
8. Common Sense Prevails; This is the simplest solution, and many people try this low–tech approach to robocalls. If you receive a call from an unknown number or one that doesn't show up on caller ID, don't answer.
Not an option. I do not want to be interrupted to make this decision.
Fifteen, twenty years ago I set up an effective email spam blocker that worked well. Every email that had the “@” symbol in the To or From field was defined as spam by default. That cut out a lot of spam!
However if the email was in my address book, then it was redefined as not-spam.
That left honest enquiries. If the email was not in my address book, but bore the subject line “From the Chris Greaves web site”, it was allowed through. Besides approving folks who had clicked on the “mail me” after finding a web page, it also discouraged smart-alecs like myself who modified the subject line to read “From the absolutely fabulous Chris Greaves web site”
Thanks again Leif.
Chris
