How to Block Spoofed Calls from Your Phone

If you aren’t sure what call spoofing is, it’s when someone tries to misrepresent information on a call, typically by identifying as someone else.

Yes, spoofed calls are annoying. They are easy to tell, however, as not a lot of effort usually goes into making such a call – since most spoofers are after quantity. Sometimes, though, a spoofed call can put you in danger of losing valuables, such as money or reputation. Spoofed calls can even endanger your life.

Knowing what you can do to block spoofed calls on your phone is something that you may find very useful.

What You Can Do

If only there was an app that you can download to fix the problem… it’d automatically block any spoofed call that you may receive, whether it’s scammers, telemarketers, or robocalls. Unfortunately, there isn’t such a tool that can help you in this regard.

With that said, there are things that you can do to protect yourself against these unwanted calls.

The National Do Not Call Registry

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) formed the National Do Not Call Registry for a reason (apart from carrying out what’s spelled out in the relevant legislation). It’s a service that consumers can use to avoid telemarketing calls. This opt-out service can be used on both home and mobile phone units.

Okay, so, the NDNCR won’t necessarily stop all scammers, robocalls, and maybe not even telemarketers from getting to you, but it will let you know that the caller is probably violating the law and that you should probably avoid contact with them.

Unsolicited Calls Go to Voicemail

Screening your calls is the first step. Yes, screen all of them. If an unknown number is trying to contact you, either let it go to voicemail or go ahead and send it there. This will protect you from those spoofed calls. Even if the spoofer is to leave a message on your voicemail (which isn’t likely), there’s not a lot of damage that they can do here.

Be careful with seemingly legitimate numbers too. Some scammers may go through the trouble to make it appear as if the call was coming from a well-known business. There isn’t much that you can do to protect yourself from these calls other than letting all unexpected calls go to voicemail.

Take Note of the Caller’s Pitch

Pitch as in sales pitch. Every spoofer has an end goal. Some want you to subscribe to a less-than-favorable service. Others are purely fraudulent and want access to your finances.

In either case, pay attention to the information that the potential spoof caller gives you. They’ll often introduce themselves as “your” credit card company or bank, rather than giving the actual name of the institution. This is often a telltale sign of fraud. A simple “could you state the name of the institution you represent” should do it.

Another thing to keep in mind is that a legitimate company will never ask you to give out your credit card information or Social Security Number.

Finally, if the person on the other end of the line claims that a neighbor of yours referred them to you, it’s a red flag. It’s highly unlikely that your neighbor would ever do that without having a word with you before or after. Besides, you can just check whether this is true by asking for the neighbor’s name. If they don’t want to disclose this information, you’re probably being scammed. If they do disclose this info, go ahead and check with the neighbor.

Blocking Spoofed Calls

To accurately predict the spoof calls from the legitimate is borderline impossible. However, there are telltale signs of scams and fraudulent behaviors that you should be wary of. Don’t take spoofed calls lightly and stay on your toes.

Have you ever received a spoofed call? If so, we hope that you didn’t fall victim to it? We implore you to hit the comments below and tell us your story – share with the community what they should keep an eye out for.