Spam calls bothering you? Not just distracting, they can be risky too, here is how to avoid spam and stay safe from scam

Telemarketers and automated voices are becoming a regular interruption due to the relentless onslaught of spam calls, which can be extremely annoying. These calls can impact your productivity and present serious privacy concerns in addition to being unpleasant. Thankfully, there are some practical methods and resources available to assist you in taking back control and minimizing these bothersome disruptions.

First let us quickly understand the difference between spam and scam calls. Spam calls are the unsolicited bombardment of promotional content through phone calls where scam calls are those malicious calls that attempt to trick you into revealing personal information or acting on instructions of scammer to rob you of your money. While these two are very different, both are irritating and if not vigilant, can result in serious financial loses. It is important to understand that it is difficult to distinguish between plain spam and dangerous scam calls because both sound similar.

It is always advisable to be cautious about any spam calls because they could actually be trying to scam you.

How to Manage Spam Calls?

Use System features

Register your phone number with the National Do Not Call Registry (DNCR) to reduce calls from legitimate telemarketers. Although scammers often disregard this list, it still remains the first step in reducing unwanted calls. Additionally, explore your phone’s settings to utilize built-in call-blocking features that can filter out unknown numbers.

Take Help of Apps

• Call-blocking apps: Use applications like Hiya, Nomorobo, or Truecaller to detect and block spam calls in real-time. These apps utilise community-driven databases using others’ experiences to enhance their effectiveness.
• Reverse lookup apps: Employ apps such as Whitepages or Truecaller to identify unknown numbers and report spam callers, contributing to a broader database for blocking.

Pro-actively Avoid Spam

• Be cautious online: Avoid sharing your phone number on unreliable websites or forms, as scammers often harvest data from these sources.
• Avoid interaction: Do not engage with suspected spam calls. Answering or pressing buttons can confirm your number’s validity, leading to more spam. Instead, let these calls ring out or disconnect immediately.
• Report spam: Report spam and scam to Sanchar Saathi at their helpline number 1930 or or website https://www.cybercrime.gov.in and your telecom operator about spam calls. Reporting helps track scammers and enhances protective measures against future calls. The authorities build a database of spammers through complaints received by public and then periodically de-activate such sim cards.
• Avoid Sharing Phone Numbers: One of the biggest source of database for spamming is the phone numbers left by people at building entrances, shopping malls and feedback forms. Since many people have access to these databases, you never know who will sell this information to spammers/scammers. Avoiding sharing phone numbers is not always possible, but avoid whenever possible to save yourself from spam calls.

An Example of How Database Can be Misused

Suppose you visit a building in your vehicle. At the entry of the building, the security guard asks you to enter your name, vehicle details and phone number. After that you park you vehicle and proceed for your work. Now if the security guard has some ulterior intentions, he has the following details:

• Your Name and Phone Number
• Your Vehicle Number
• Your Vehicle’s Number Plate Photo (anyone can take the photo of a parked vehicle’s number plate)

This information will be valuable for spammers who can now call you by your name to gain your trust and attention. The scammers on the other hand, can use all the above information to create a fake traffic challan in your vehicle’s name and trick you into clicking on malicious links on a fake RTO website. So be careful!

Stay Updated

Protecting yourself from spam calls requires remaining updated. Read and listen to the news of latest scams and technologies used by scammers. While scammers continuously evolve their tactics, remaining informed and proactive will help keep your defences strong. For example;

• Drugs in courier scam
• Unpaid utility bill-service disconnection scam
• Credit card rewards scam
• Wrongly transferred money through UPI scam
• Any other scam requiring sharing of OTP over a phone call
• Unpaid traffic challan scam

These are a few examples of the latest scams targeting unsuspecting users. Staying updated with the latest scams happening around can keep you safe.

Always verify and double check, take help from a friend or a family member before revealing any sensitive information online or over a phone call.

Share Information

Share these tips with friends and family. The more people who are aware of these strategies, the quieter the phone call landscape will become for everyone. Take proactive steps to combat spam calls, and you’ll enjoy a more peaceful phone experience.