How to stop nuisance phone calls?

[Blueballoons4]

I get quite a lot of spam phone calls to my landline. Does anyone know how to stop them?

I have always been ex-directory.

Btw, I’m pretty sure that TalkTalk sold my phone number to companies who use it for spam calls. When I first got my landline I had only given my number to my mum, but within days of getting the line, I started to get spam calls.

I’d be super grateful if anyone can tell me how to stop them!

You can get a phone that blocks them. It is pretty easy but you need the electronic type. We have had one for years so they are not new gadgets.

We were recently spammed in this way - every day, 8-10 times a day. You can buy phones that block them, but increasingly these parasites are masking their number so that it looks like they are ringing from a normal domestic / regional landline (i.e. they have a normal area code, suggesting they are from Wigan, or whatever), and they change the numbers all the time to get around the blocks. I gave up and set up the phone so that it automatically went to the answering service. After about a week of that, the calls stopped.

Thank you for the replies.

@Cismyfatarse What is that type of phone called, please?

@GCAcademic Interesting. I don’t have an answerphone, but maybe I should try not answering calls for a week.

We have a BT branded phone with Truecall software on it. Blocks everything apart from numbers you authorise in advance. Anything withheld or unknown, the caller has to press a key and announce who they are before the call is put through. You can then allow or block. Fantastic, not one spam caller since we got it years ago.

Just get an answerphone, when I call my parent he lets it go to answerphone, I start talking and he picks it up, if it’s not Someone he knows he leaves it, I also think most new phones show the number calling , if it’s not recognised don’t answer it

I save numbers I want to answer and unless I am expecting a call I do not answer, I now get one of two calls a year that look like Spam. I did subscribe to the answer phone service but resented paying and now just figure if it was important they would email or I would have given them my mobile number.

There is actually a bt service you can report numbers to. Give them a call

I 2nd @Frollocks above .
We bought the BT call blocker Truecall phone a few years ago in the January sales and it stopped the problem immediately. It's fantastic, far better than just the basic number checking services and we've not had a single scammer since.
Here's an example (currently on offer)- there are several options

www.amazon.co.uk/BT-Cordless-Nuisance-Blocking-Answering-Black/dp/B0787G3VRQ/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=bt+truecall+phones&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1608718551&sr=8-3

I have a regular caller, Alice fromAmazon , she is pretty determined to let me know about the Nike trainers someone has bought on my account, one day I will thank her.

But it will be a cold day in hell when it happens.

All you need to do is register your number with TPS (telephone preference service). Give it a Google.
Means its actually illegal to cold call you.
'The TPS is the Telephone Preference Service. It is a central register of individuals who have opted out of receiving live marketing calls. The CTPS is the Corporate TPS.'

@Wantabub

All you need to do is register your number with TPS (telephone preference service). Give it a Google. Means its actually illegal to cold call you. 'The TPS is the Telephone Preference Service. It is a central register of individuals who have opted out of receiving live marketing calls. The CTPS is the Corporate TPS.'

WE've done this but it really hasn't helped much as it only stops UK based calls. Most I think are overseas.

We are getting around 5 a day at the moment - Amazon, Amazon Prime, BT, my ISP provider, the security centre for Visa and Mastercard (I would have thought they could afford one each but still....), and HMRC. At least I have someone to talk to in lockdown.

Register with the TPS and then every time they call say "how did you get this number? It is registered with TPS and I will report your call". I had a spate and kept doing this and they seem to have stopped.