How to Stop Telemarketing Calls

Place your number on the FTC’s Do Not Call Registry.

Legitimate companies will not cold call you if your number is registered. It is illegal for companies to call you with sales pitches if you register your number with the FTC. To put your cell phone or landline on the national Do Not Call Registry, visit https://www.donotcall.gov/, or call 1-888-382-1222 and give them your name and number to verify your information. Political parties, charities, and non-profit organizations will still be able to call you. This will only weed out the sales calls. It can take up to 31 days for the sales calls to stop once you’ve registered. Don’t worry if the calls don’t stop the next day. Unfortunately, scammers do not care about the Do Not Call Registry, so you may still get some annoying calls from time to time. At least you know they aren’t legitimate companies calling, so stay away!

Report telemarketers who do call once you’re registered.

Once you’re on the registry, it is illegal for companies to cold call you. If you do get a telemarketing call, report it. Go to https://www.donotcall.gov/ and click the “report it to the FTC” button on the window that pops up on your screen. Enter the phone number that called you along with the time and subject of the call. If putting your number on the Do Not Call Registry wasn’t enough to convince them not to call you, finding out that you’re reporting their number might motivate them to stop! Some scammers spoof their phone number so it appears as a different number every time. If you’re getting scam calls from the same area code over and over again, this probably won’t solve the problem.

Tell telemarketers to stop calling you.

Say, “Please put me on your do not call list” and hang up. You shouldn’t pick up a telemarketing or scam call in the first place but if you have important calls you’re waiting on, you may end up answering a telemarketing call on accident. Don’t fret, argue, or yell; just ask them to put you on their do not call list and hang up. Telemarketers can be obnoxiously persistent, so the longer you’re on the line with them, the more likely they are to keep pushing your buttons. Just ask them to stop and hang up. If the telemarketer is calling from a legitimate company, this should put an end to the calls. Most companies have an internal “do not call” list, and it’s illegal in most states to keep calling you after you’ve asked them to stop.

Block telemarketers manually after they call.

This won’t help keep the spoofed numbers away, but it will stop persistent companies. On an iPhone, go to your recent calls and click the “i” next to the number that called you. Scroll to the bottom and select “block this caller.” On an Android phone, either find the “call blocking” or “call rejection” menu in the settings and enter the number. Many Android phones have the ability to block a number in your “recent calls” menu. This won’t stop scammers if they’re spoofing their number, since they’re going to automatically call from a new number anyway.

Turn on anonymous call blocking.

Call your carrier and ask if they have an anonymous call blocking service. Most carriers do, but you may need to contact them to turn it on for you. Some carriers allow you to call *77 to turn on anonymous call blocking, but double-check first. In some areas, calling *77 will contact the police. For some carriers, there’s a small charge associated with anonymous call blocking. This may be worth it for you depending on how often you’re getting calls from anonymous numbers. Some phones have an anonymous call blocking function you can turn on in the “settings” menu. This will only block numbers that pop up as “anonymous” on your caller ID. It will not block standard numbers or company calls. Luckily, you can just block those numbers manually, though.

Ask your carrier about scam-blocking services.

You don’t have to do all of the heavy lifting if your carrier can screen calls for you. Phone companies monitor the traffic on their system, and they have a ton of tools to automatically stop scammers masquerading as telemarketers. You may need to pay a monthly fee for this service, but it may be a good idea if you’re really fed up with these calls. AT&T has a free app called “AT&T Call Protect” that will block calls. For $2.99 a month, you can use Verizon has a “Caller Filter” service to screen calls. On T-Mobile, dial #622 to turn on scam filtering. Depending on your plan, this may cost $4 a month. Sprint has a “Premier Caller ID” service that costs $2.99 a month that will flag calls.

Download an app to block telemarketers and scams.

Robokiller, Hiya, and Nomorobo are popular call screening apps. These apps will screen, block, or identify marketing calls and scammers for you. Some of them also offer additional features, like the ability to block text messages with suspicious links. This is a great option if you want to streamline this process and control what kind of numbers get through. “RoboKiller” is especially good at blocking spoofed numbers if you get a lot of scam calls from numbers with the same area code as you. All of these apps offer a free trial, and some of them offer a basic free version. Unfortunately, you will have to pay a small monthly fee if you want to permanently access all of their services.

Turn on “do not disturb” to block non-contacts.

This is an extreme solution, but it will keep any telemarketers and scammers out. Turn this on to automatically block any number that isn’t in your contacts. When a telemarketer or scammer calls you, the call will automatically go to voicemail. On Android, open the control center by swiping down and press the “do not disturb” button to turn it on. Then, tap and hold the button to open the settings and select “allow exceptions” to specify who can call. On iPhone, go to your settings and tap the “do not disturb” button. Then, select “allow calls from” to enter your exceptions. You can also open the control center and tap the crescent moon icon to turn “do not disturb” on. This can make things kind of difficult if you do any business over the phone. If you regularly get legitimate incoming calls from numbers you don’t have saved, “do not disturb” will block them from getting through.

Hang up on automated robocall menus.

Those robocalls are trying to trick you, so just hang up. If you get a robocall and there is some menu option to be placed on the company’s do not call registry, don’t bother. Shady companies and scammers use this trick to identify working numbers. Even if they don’t call you back, they’re going to sell your phone number and/or information to someone else who will keep calling. While telling legitimate companies that you don’t want to be called may work, the scammers don’t care about what you want. Do not engage with scammers when they call.