Few things are as annoying as constantly dealing with a ringing phone, especially when it’s a robocall, telemarketer, or other forms of spam making the call. Fortunately, more steps are being taken by the major phone service providers and government to help eliminate these calls.
The idea behind their initiatives is to verify each call that is made using their various networks to discover and disable spam calls. While these efforts are admirable and have helped reduce the number of spam calls being made, they still have a very long way to go.
If you are constantly dealing with spam calls on your Android device, there are a few apps that you can download that can help protect you.
What Is Spam?
Before discussing the various options for blocking spam, you should first know a little bit about spam in general. Spam calls are unwanted communication attempts that intend to advertise something, spread malware, or phishing.
The most common attempts usually come in the form of a phone call, text message, or email. Even the most private and careful individuals might fall victim to spam from time to time. Companies will often sell your information, such as phone numbers or email addresses, to third parties.
They will then use this information to send spam and attempt their con. The issue has become such a problem that recent legislation was passed to crack down on this third-party sharing. Unfortunately, these efforts haven’t been enough to stop the selling of private information or spamming.
How To Prevent Spam
There really isn’t much that you can do to prevent spam from being sent. You should try your best to never engage with any spam efforts, including calls, emails, or risky links on your computer.
The most effective way of protecting yourself is by using software designed to protect your information and block out spam attempts. The easiest way to achieve this is by using software designed to fight spam.
These are a few of the best apps available for blocking spam and keeping your information secure.
Burner
The term “burner” refers to using a cheap or disposable phone to hide your actual phone number. The app Burner takes this concept and updates it to fit a more modern world. Instead of requiring you to buy another phone, Burner gives you a second phone number that will hide away your actual number and keep it private.
Everything on your end stays the same as you can still make calls, send texts, and manage your phone contacts. The difference is that whenever someone sends you a call or text, it is first intercepted by Burner.
Calls and texts that are sent by your approved contacts are routed to your private number, but any unknown, blocked, or spam calls are not transferred. After a free seven-day trial, the app is available as a monthly subscription with no limits on minutes and texts or a prepaid option with varying limitations.
Truecaller
Since 2009, the Truecaller app has been used around the world by over 250 million users. The software utilizes an extremely powerful Caller ID that helps to identify spam, robocallers, telemarketers, and other undesired callers.
The spam detector is effective due to the spam list being constantly updated by millions of users across the world. So instead of having to wait for a number to call your phone to become blocked, it will only need to call another Truecaller user to be blacklisted automatically.
The free version of this app grants access to the Caller ID and spam blocking features, but it will require advertisements. Truecaller also offers a paid subscription that removes the ads, enables several more features, and provides additional security for a fee of $4.99 a month.
Hiya
Businesses and carriers use the software developed by Hiya in addition to regular everyday people. The app allows you to identify numbers you want to answer and block the numbers you wish to avoid. It also contains the option to auto block unknown numbers and reverses phone lookup to find out the number calling.
Hiya is available in over 40 different countries and claims over 170 million users. Hiya has a basic option that is free to use and provides some benefits, but their paid subscription service will cost $2.99 a month.
The paid service will provide more frequent spam updates and premium Caller ID services.
Firewall
A lot of call blocking apps use the blacklist method to try and prevent spam calls. They add phone numbers to the blacklist, and the number is no longer be able to make contact. However, this approach isn’t totally effective, and spammers can often penetrate it by switching their numbers.
Firewall works a little bit differently. It utilizes a whitelist instead, which works in the opposite way of a blacklist. You would create a list of contacts that would be allowed to ring through when calling, and the rest would be either blocked or sent to voicemail automatically.
Another feature of Firewall is that the calls sent to voicemail can be transcribed. This way, you can quickly read them and see if they are worth calling back or deleting.
When returning the call, Firewall further protects you by keeping your number private. The app is available for a free 14-day trial but will require a monthly subscription of $3.99 in order to continue using.
RoboKiller
RoboKiller is a software that uses an algorithm designed to identify and block robocalls, telemarketers, unknown callers, and other spam. The numbers will automatically be uploaded to a blacklist that is constantly being updated, ensuring the latest protections from the newest spam numbers.
The app allows you to create a customizable Block-list as well as an Allow-list. You will also have the ability to temporarily pause the blocking algorithm if you expect a call from an unknown number and reactivate it when you choose.
What really separates this software from the others is its ability to fight spammers by using spam. Instead of simply blocking the number, you will have the option of selecting an Answer Bot that will send spammers long and tedious messages. You’ll have the chance to get a little bit of payback for all those years of annoying spam calls.
The RoboKiller app offers a free seven trial but requires a subscription fee of $3.99 to continue using after the week is over.
The Takeaway
Unfortunately, spam is a highly annoying part of having access to modern technology. The good news is that the problem is being addressed, but the bad news is that the problem still exists. It seems like every time a solution is created; spammers find a new way to get around it.
For that reason, you shouldn’t rely on legislation and laws to protect you from spam. Instead, you should take matters into your own hands and protect yourself by downloading the Firewall app now.
SOURCES
Tired of annoying and intrusive spam calls? Here's how to keep robocalls at a minimum | CNET.com
What Is Spam | Internetsociety.org
Here's what you need to know about the new law on robocalls | ABCNews.com
5 Simple Ways You Can Fight Spam and Protect Yourself | CSA.gov