How to stop nuisance calls and texts
There’s nothing quite like an annoying text or call to take you away from that Netflix episode, platform game or group chat. Whether it’s a call about an ‘accident’ that you never had, a bogus text from the bank or even a legitimate company trying to sell you stuff you’re not interested in, there are a few things you can do to stop it. Here’s what we recommend:
Be careful what you’re ticking
To prevent nuisance calls, be careful of any online forms that ask you to fill tick-boxes that say something like “I give permission for third parties to contact me by phone” or “I give you permission to contact me by phone”. Don’t tick them if you don’t want to be contacted!
The same thing goes for all kinds of communications, be they email or text. For example, some comparison sites make you enter your personal details when you look for an insurance quote, and it’s easy to end up finding yourself on a mailing list. Whenever you buy or subscribe to something online, be sure to check about the type of communications you consent to.
Register with the Telephone Preference Service
The best way to prevent nuisance calls is to register your number with the Telephone Preference Service. They’ll add you to their list of numbers that don’t want to receive sales and marketing calls. It’s illegal for companies to call numbers registered with the Telephone Preference Service, so it should scare companies away and stop them bothering you.
You’ll need your phone number, postcode and an email address to sign up on the Telephone Preference Service website. You can also sign up from your mobile by texting ‘TPS’ and your email address to 85095. Or you can call them to register on 0345 070 0707.
It’s free to register with the Telephone Preference Service. If anyone asks you for money to sign up, it’s a scam - you should report it to the Consumer Service.
If you get nuisance calls after you’ve registered with the Telephone Preference Service, it may be because you gave the caller your number. Go ahead and tell the individual caller you don’t wish to be contacted again, and hopefully they should stop calling you. If they don’t, see ‘Report a nuisance call or text’ below.
You might also still get calls from companies that don't follow the regulations. You can get advice about companies that ignore the law from the Telephone Preference Service website.
Block nuisance calls
You can block numbers using your handset. It varies between handsets, but usually involves going into your call list and selecting you want to block (usually by pressing an info button next to the number - be careful not to call it). Then you should be shown an option to block that number.
Alternatively, some smartphones are clever enough to detect that the number coming through is a scam call and let you know as it happens, giving you the option to block the number right then and there.
What to do if you think it’s a scam call
Scams usually involve people being tricked into giving money. If you think a caller is trying to scam you, report it to Actionfraud straight away.
Stop getting nuisance texts
If you’ve given your number to a company in the past, they may send you texts. You can usually tell them to stop sending you texts by replying ‘STOP’ to the text message. Only reply with ‘STOP’ if the sender tells you who they are in the text, or they’re identified in the sent-from number.
If you don’t recognise the sender of a nuisance text, or it’s from an unknown number, don’t reply. If you do, it lets the sender know your phone number is active and they might hassle you even more!
Report a nuisance call or text
Registering with the Telephone Preference Service should stop you getting nuisance calls, but if someone’s still bothering you 28 days after registering, then you can report them.
Registering with the Telephone Preference Service won’t stop you getting nuisance texts. When you do get a nuisance text, forward it to 7726 - this spells ‘SPAM’ on your phone keypad. Doing this reports the sender to iD Mobile and you won’t get charged for the text.
You can also report nuisance calls or texts to the Information Commissioner's Office online, who can take action against whoever made the call. You’ll need to know the number the nuisance called from, and the date and time they called. You should be able to find both in your call history.
Those are a few of the best things you can do to stop annoying calls and texts from coming through. Give them a go and see how you get on! Let us know in the comments below.