Fighting spam callers on the iPhone

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Good tip. I wonder how often spammers change the number they’re calling from though.

[Via Streakmachine]



  • Ron Miller

    These are good tips … I had done the same with a dedicated spam ringtone, but a “silent” one is a really good idea. Other things I’ve done to help is to use a Google Voice number to give out as much as possible (you can easily block numbers via Google Voice), and with Verizon I can block a few numbers for free as well.

    My experience is that spammers do often change the number, but often use the same number for several days in a row. Blocking them gives at least a few days of relief. The Google blocking is nice too in that it says “this phone is not in service” which might help get you off their spam list.

  • http://blog.ikrug.com/ Dave Krug

    That’s exactly what I’ve been doing, and when they start using a new number, iOS makes it easy to add them to my existing “Idiot Telemarketers” address book entry.

  • Steven Fisher

    I had to do this a couple years ago when I was in the hospital and the same spammer kept calling me. He called me 38 times in a two hour period.

    I almost answered the phone a second time just to congratulate him on being such a massive asshole.

    I can’t remember if I was able to set up a custom vibration pattern on that version of iOS. I think I just turned vibrate off and the ringer on.

  • itsgene

    I’ve been doing this for many years now. My Spam contact has a couple hundred numbers. One thing I also do, just to be a completist, is mark the number itself with a custom “Spam” label for the type of phone number (instead of “Work,” “Home,” etc).

    Every so often I will dump the list of numbers to my blog as a kind of public service. :)

  • http://jaselynch.com/ Jason Lynch

    Consider yourselves lucky. Here in Australia, most spam calls from from “Blocked Number”… this normally would be good thing, however i have a few family members that have blocked numbers due to their work, so i can’t filter anyone :(

  • http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com/ Shawn King

    Another thing you can do is use the Number Guru app – https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/number-guru/id431750800?mt=8&ls=1 – to help manage, control and ignore spammers.