When you’re settling down for dinner or watching your favourite TV show, an interruption like a phone call can be quite a nuisance. We’ve complied some handy tips to reduce and block scam and spam calls, from both your mobile and landline phones.

Your home phone

1. The first thing to do is register your phone number on the Do Not Call register. It is an initiative by the Australian Government to reduce the calls you’ll receive from telemarketers.
2. Use a phone with Call Blocking features. Some handsets allow you to block a number after you decide that it is a nuisance call.

Your mobile phone

1. Many people may have heard about the do not call register above, but thought it was just for landline numbers. You can register your mobile phone on this list too and help block spam and scam calls.
2. If you own a smartphone, they’ll usually have a method to block a caller you’ve received a call from. On an iPhone tap the ‘i’ symbol next to the unwanted number, scroll down and tap Block this Caller, then confirm your decision. For Android devices select the number you want to block, then hit More or the 3-dot menu icon in the upper-right corner and choose ‘Add to reject’ list.
3. Put your phone on do not disturb during important events, like dinner or a meeting. This way the caller will either need to leave a voicemail or the call will not come through.
4. Be warned before the call comes in. If you own a smartphone, let it do something smart for you! Apps like Truecaller can be downloaded for free. This app will house a database of phone numbers that have been reported and collected over time. If a call from any of these numbers come in, you will see it on the incoming call screen to save you from even answering the call. A real time saver and it is regularly updated!
5. For not necessarily spam callers, you may want to know a business that is calling you before you answer. The Whitepages app operates in the same way that Truecaller does, however, it can identify the business calling you while also being an app for finding phone numbers when you need it.

Lastly, don’t ever call back an odd number with a strange country or area code!