We all do get some spam calls from time to time. One particular spam call in Ghana is from a short code 0295. Often when you pick that call you hear sounds of people making love or some gibberish you can’t even understand. That one is easy to block because you can report it to your network.
But more worrying is the spam calls from fraudsters who actually set out to lure us into their web just to rob us of our mobile money. Those one are hard to block because the fraudster always use different numbers and they come like normal phone calls to make you think it’s someone you know.
While you can’t block all spam numbers, and scammers are always figuring out new ways to get through the phone lines, there are still some things you can do to limit the number of such calls you receive.
In iOS 13 or later, you can stop unknown numbers from ringing at all by selecting “silence unknown callers.” The call will go straight to your missed call, but will at least buy you some peace of mind.
On many Android phones, you can open up your default caller ID and spam options and enable “filter spam calls,” “see caller and spam ID” and “verified numbers.”
Then there are third party apps. Wideprotect will let you block area codes and calls from specific places en masse. Hiya also has advanced spam-blocking features, but you’ll have to pay for it. Finally, all the networks have their own apps for this purpose, so check yours and see what free features they offer.
In both the iOS and Android cases, such measures may also prevent you from receiving some calls that are not spam. That is a risk you take, once you are willing to always call back the calls you missed.
Otherwise, you receive the calls and when you identify them as spam/fraudulent you report them to your respective network.
