As the end of the year approaches, you may be feeling the pressure of the holiday season.
From spending time with loved ones to celebrating festive traditions, there’s plenty to do.
With so much to do and limited time, we don’t need the extra hassle of annoying spam calls and emails. That’s why we’ve prepared his five tips for reducing spam and enjoying a more peaceful holiday season.
Please be careful about spam emails before and after the holidays. (Kurt “Cyber Guy” Knutson)
1) Send spam calls directly to voicemail
iPhone
to send scammers To use voicemail directly on your iPhone, you must have iOS 13 or later installed. Some phone companies allow you to detect and silence spam calls, while some only display the caller’s business ID information at the time of the call.
You can also silence unknown callers. This is a great option for sending calls from people you don’t know directly to voicemail.
Call blocking and identification
- Open your iPhone setting
- Scroll down and tap phone
- Tap Call blocking and identification
If your phone company offers it, you can toggle on the following:
- Silence nuisance calls – This option automatically silences calls that your phone company considers to be spam or junk.
- Business ID – This option shows the caller’s verified business ID, so you can better tell if they’re an unsolicited caller or someone you know.
Block and identify calls on iPhone (apple)
Silence unknown callers
- Open your iPhone setting
- Scroll down and tap phone
- Tap Silence unknown callers
Turn it on to send calls, recent calls, Siri suggestions, and text messages from people who aren’t in your contacts directly to your voicemail.
How to silence unknown callers on iPhone (apple)
Learn more: Which apps are collecting the most data?
android
Google devices like a pixel Those that are updated or from 2018 have the ability to automatically filter out spam calls. You can block calls (and in some cases report them as spam) in your phone’s settings.
SSettings may vary depending on your Android smartphone manufacturer.
- open phone app on your Android
- Tap the three dots to see more menu options in the top right
- Tap setting
- Tap Caller ID and spam
- Turn on “Enable Caller ID and Spam”
- If you turn on “Filter Spam Calls” or “Block Spam and Scam Calls,” those calls will go directly to your voicemail.
2) Stop robocalls
Robocalls often result in Number of data brokers that sell personal information to telemarketers and automated calling services. Data brokers can obtain your information in a variety of ways, including accessing public information such as government records or collecting data from loyalty card programs, surveys, and social media.
The mobile app also allows you to share personal information with data brokers. Even your online browsing habits are valuable to data brokers. Data profiles may be sold to a variety of buyers, including targeted advertising and marketing companies. Government agency. You can request that your data broker delete your information. But with hundreds of organizations in the United States alone, it can be a daunting task. That’s where moving services come in.
Investing in moving services
No service promises to remove all data from the Internet, but if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of removing information from hundreds of sites over an extended period of time, use a data removal service. is the best. Check out my recommended removal services here.
Using the National Do Not Call Registry
The National Do Not Call Registry is a free program that blocks calls from telemarketers within 31 days of registration.
- You can call the registry at 1-888-382-1222 from any phone number you wish to include in your “Do Not Call” list.
- Or visit: dontcall.gov and click “”Register your phone” button.
- enter telephone numberDo you want to register?
You can register up to three phone numbers at once. Be sure to provide your email to confirm confirmation and begin eliminating robocalls. Please note that Do Not Call Registry does not stop all unwanted calls from political groups, charities, debt collectors, etc.
3) Use alias email to keep spam out of your inbox
One of the best ways to avoid spam emails is to alias email address. Email aliases allow you to access emails that you create for specific purposes and keep them separate from your inbox.
The most convenient reason to use an alias email address is because all modern websites require you to enter personal information. If you’re looking for a promo code or need to sign up to use a website for a one-time reason, you don’t want to give out your real name and email address. You end up signing yourself up for a constant stream of emails from them, they may end up selling your information, and you end up getting even more from people you don’t know. You will receive many emails.
Alias email addresses not only help you avoid spam emails, they also have the added benefit of helping keep your primary email safe if your information is stolen. Secure means being safe from hacking or theft by anyone trying to access your personal information or account. If someone hacks or steals your alias email address, that person will no longer have access to your primary email address or any accounts linked to it. Also, if you want to remove spam sent to your alias email address, simply delete it from your inbox.
Read my review of the best secure and private email services here..
4) Stopping email delivery
If you feel like you’re receiving too many emails from a list you’ve subscribed to, you can unsubscribe. However, some of these sites can be difficult to unsubscribe from. They want to keep emailing you, so you have to look for it.
The unsubscribe option is usually at the bottom of the email message, and there is usually a hyperlink that says something. unsubscribe or Manage subscriber options. Clicking on that hyperlink will take you to his website for that company, where you can unsubscribe from his mailing list.
You should also unsubscribe from any email lists you never signed up for. This helps reduce spam and unwanted messages in your inbox.
However, be careful when unsubscribing from emails, especially if you think they are spam. Some hackers use emails that are very vague or similar to genuine emails you receive from companies you have no interest in. “Unsubscribe” from future emailsor you may be provided with a link to cancel your subscription.
Clicking on these links may confirm that you actually received an email directing you to the spammer, and once you click on the link, the spammer has access to install malware on your device. You may have one.
Learn more: Avoid unwanted group chats and email attacks via email
5) Stop spam texts on your phone
You can block text messages from unknown or potentially dangerous numbers on both Android and iPhone.
iPhone
iPhone provides options to filter and block unknown numbers.
To filter unknown numbers:
- Open setting
- Tap message
- toggle on Filter unknown senders
- Once you open the message, tap . filter It’s at the top left of the screen.
- You can see that the text is divided into three categories. “All Messages”, “Known Senders”, “Unknown Senders”” and “Unread messages. ”
- All messages from unknown numbers will be sent to the unknown sender and you will not receive a notification.
How to filter unknown senders on iPhone (apple)
If you receive a suspicious text, you should block the number so they can’t contact you again.
To block spam numbers:
- open spam text messages
- Tap profile icon There are numbers below it
- Tap information
- Scroll down and tap block this caller
- Tap block a contact
android
Android similarly offers two services that allow you to use spam protection to avoid spam text messages, rather than just blocking specific numbers.
SSettings may vary depending on your Android smartphone manufacturer.
To enable spam protection:
- open message app
- Tap the tree dot icon in the top right corner
- Tap setting
- Tap spam protection
- Tap Enable spam protection
To block a phone number:
- open spam text message
- Tap the three dots icon in the top right corner
- Tap Add to block list
samsung
To enable spam protection on your Samsung Galaxy A32 5G, follow these steps:
- open setting app
- Scroll down and click app
- Tap message app
- Scroll down and click App notifications
- toggle on spam protection option
This turns on the Messages app’s spam protection feature, which helps you identify and filter out spam messages.
You can also block specific numbers from the Messages app by following these steps:
- open message Mobile phone app.
- Find the spam message you want to block.
- Touch and hold the message until a menu appears.
- Tap Block/Report spam option.
- Confirm that you want to block the sender.
Blocking a sender prevents you from receiving messages from that sender.
You can also block the number from the Settings app by proceeding to the next step.
- app
- after that message
- go to block number
- Here you can add the numbers you want to block to your block list.
spam block app
There are also some highly recommended apps designed to block malicious text. Most recommended:
- Free on Android and iPhone
- Transcribe your voicemails and save yourself the hassle of listening to them.
- Free reverse phone number database
- Caller ID notification that also eliminates suspicious numbers
- free Free for iPhone
- Focused on blocking spam texts from unknown numbers
- You can create keyword-specific blocks
- Also blocks ranges of email addresses and phone numbers
- Create separate folders for known senders, unknown senders, and spam emails
- Available for android and iPhone
- Winner of the FTC Robocall Challenge
- Protects you from spam texts and callers
- $2 per month per mobile phone
- 14-day free trial
Cart important points
Avoiding spam goes hand in hand with protecting your privacy online. Many data brokers have easy access to your information. It’s important to keep your data safe and out of the hands of anyone who could harm you, your family, or your wallet.
What are some of the most common or annoying spam messages you’ve encountered? How did you recognize them as spam? Email us at. Cyberguy.com/Contact.
For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report newsletter using the link below. Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.
Ask your cart a question or let us know your story you’d like us to feature.
Answers to CyberGuy frequently asked questions:
Ideas for how to use holiday gift cards
Copyright 2023 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
