Tired of Holi's unwanted messages and spam calls? Here’s how you can block them

 The method to block a number on an Android phone may differ from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Amid the festival season, we often receive phone calls and texts from various companies including credit card companies, and spam, telemarketer calls. Sometimes, we pick up a call from an unknown number only to know that the call is from these such companies, which could be annoying for someone.

However, such calls and texts can be stopped by simply changing some settings in your smartphone. Not only that, but you can also block spammers, scammers, and telemarketer's calls.

Here’s how you can block them on both iPhone and Android phones.

For iPhone

It’s easy to block individual numbers on your iPhone.

• In Phone app, tap Recents, then tap the Information icon next to the number or contact you want to block.
• Scroll down and tap Block This Caller.
• In the Messages app, open the conversation with the contact you want to block, then tap the contact at the top, then tap the Info button, scroll down, and tap Block This Caller.

Once a caller is blocked, you won’t get notifications when they call or send a message, but they will still be able to leave voicemails.

You can also filter unknown callers and senders

Blocking individual numbers isn’t very effective when telemarketers or scammers are contacting you, as they use multiple numbers. However, there is another way out to tackle this. 

• Open Settings, Phone, and scroll down to tap Silence Unknown Callers. When you toggle this feature on, it automatically silences calls from numbers not saved in your contacts.  
• You can do the same thing for messages by going to Settings, Messages, and scrolling down to toggle on Filter Unknown Senders.

For Android

Blocking numbers on an Android phone is easy too but the method does differ from manufacturer to manufacturer.

• On a Samsung Phone, open the Phone app and go to Recents, tap the number you want to block, then tap Details and Block.

Filtering unknown callers and senders

If you are getting a lot of unwanted calls and messages and the numbers keep changing, you might want to filter out any unknown numbers.

Open the Phone app and tap the three vertical dots at the top right, then Settings, Blocked numbers, and toggle on Unknown (or Block unknown callers on a Samsung phone).

You can also turn on caller ID and spam protection. Open the Phone app and tap the three vertical dots at the top right.

Then Settings, then tap Caller ID and spam to get options to See caller and spam ID and Filter spam calls.

(You can simply toggle on Caller ID and spam protection on a Samsung phone.)