Why am I getting so many spam calls? And how do I stop it?

We have been conditioned to dread our phones because of the recent onslaught of calls. It isn't right that we've come to fear the phone ringing because we know in our hearts that the call isn't coming from a friend or loved one, but from a far off villain using text-to-speech to try to convince us our car's warrant

In the year 2021, American phones were bombarded with over 50 billion calls, and the FCC received the most complaints from consumers. Some people are to blame for the mess we're in. There are a number of things you can do to reduce the number of calls to your phone.

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Many people blame the former FCC Chairman, but he is only part of the puzzle.

Why it’s happening

Our fealty to a certain economic system is partially to blame for the onslaught of junk mail. It is no accident that many forms of phone calls are legal. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act gave consumers the right to file lawsuits against phone harassers. The SCOTUS ruled in favor of businesses in the case ofSpokeo Inc.

This framework and the unsophisticated caller ID technology that carriers are only just getting around to fixing are perfect for the scam artists. International callers can reach U.S. phone networks if they use gateways. When a dialer is annoyed, the carriers alert them that the call isn't coming from the home.

Shut them up

The Silence Unknown callers feature in your phone's settings can help you get rid of the sonic annoyance ofrobo calls. To use this feature, you need to go into the general settings menu, tap the phone next to the green icon, and scroll down until you see Silence Unknown callers. If you tap that phrase, you'll see a switch on the screen.

Credit: Screenshot: Apple

Credit: Screenshot: Apple

It might take a little more exploring to turn on this feature as the settings menu varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. There are variations on the name of the feature, such as block harassing calls or block anonymous calls.

You can always block each spammer's number one by one if you want to. The promise of tranquility might be worth it for some.

It is possible to permanently turn on your phone's "do not disturb" mode and make it so that only those in your saved contacts are able to reach you. It is nice to know that it is an option, even though you can see the drawbacks.

Credit: Screenshot: Apple

Credit: Screenshot: Apple

Pay to be rid of them

If you pay a little more each month, some phone carriers will add more filters to your phone bill. Call Protect Plus is offered by AT&T for $3.99 a month.

If you don't want to pay more for more protection, you can use a third-party app for the same price.

Credit: Screenshot: Hiya

You can install apps like Hiya and pay them to filter and report spammers for you. Credit: Screenshot: Hiya

Register yourself

You could always add your number to the Do Not Call registry, even if this is more of a placebo. Within a month, telemarketers should stop calling you. This approach only works in stopping legal calls. Because your number is off-limits, the people who are breaking the law won't stop.

Credit: Screenshot: National Call Registry