You Should Restrict Your Phone Incoming Calls and Text to Your Contacts List to Avoid Scams

Scammers are always coming up with new ways to trick people out of their money. One of the most common ways is to call or text people from unknown numbers. These calls and texts often appear to be from legitimate businesses, such as the IRS or a credit card company. However, they are actually from scammers who are trying to steal your personal information or money.

There are a few things you can do to protect yourself from phone scams. One of the most important things is to restrict your phone incoming calls and text to your contacts list. This means that only people who are already in your contacts will be able to call or text you. This will help to prevent scammers from reaching you.

To restrict your phone incoming calls and text to your contacts list, you can follow these steps:

On your Android phone: 

• Open the Settings app.
• Tap Privacy & security.
• Tap Spam & contact settings.
• Tap Manage contact settings.
• Turn on Only receive calls and texts from your phone contacts.

On your iPhone:

• open the Settings app.
• Tap Phone.
• Tap Silence Unknown Callers.

This will not block all calls and texts from unknown numbers. However, it will block most of them, which will help to protect you from scams.

In addition to restricting your phone incoming calls and text to your contacts list, you should also be aware of other common phone scams. Here are a few tips to help you avoid them:

• Never give out your personal information over the phone. This includes your Social Security number, credit card number, or bank account number.
• Be suspicious of any calls or texts that ask you to pay with a gift card or wire transfer.These are common methods that scammers use to steal money.
• If you are unsure whether a call or text is legitimate, hang up and call the company directly using the number on their website.

By following these tips, you can help to protect yourself from phone scams.

Here are some additional tips to help you avoid phone scams:

• Be wary of calls or texts that come in on holidays or weekends. Scammers often target people when they are less likely to be suspicious.
• If you receive a call or text from a number that you don’t recognize, don’t answer it. If it’s important, the caller will leave a voicemail.
• If you do answer a call from an unknown number, don’t give out any personal information. Just say that you’re not interested and hang up.
• If you receive a text message that asks you to click on a link, don’t do it. These links can often lead to malware or phishing websites.

By following these tips, you can help to protect yourself from phone scams.

See Scam and Fraud Protection for 2023 for more information and make sure to Sign Up for our Scam Prevention Newsletter.