<\/p>\n
Smartphone Tips: Silence the Scammers<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n We believe your computer and phone should work for you, not the other way around. While we usually help you with your computer, we’re going to change things up a bit.\u00a0 Since quite a few of you now have smartphones, t<\/span>oday, we’re going talk about smartphones – both Android and iPhones and show you how to silence the spammers and scammers regardless of what kind of smartphone you use.<\/span><\/p>\n The scammers are everywhere these days. But fear not, you don’t have to be a victim. Here is our guide to reducing spam and scams and taking a stand against the miscreants who pester you with all the scammy, spammy text messages and calls.<\/span> For Android smartphone users:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Google has built some smart features right into your phone that act like a digital bouncer.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 Silence the Ring: Open your Phone app, tap those three dots in the corner, and head into Settings. Look for Caller ID & Spam. Turn on “See caller and spam ID” and\u2014most importantly\u2014”Filter spam calls.” Now, when a scammer calls, your phone won’t even ring.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 Clean Up Your Texts: If you use the Google Messages app, tap your profile icon > Message settings > Spam protection. Make sure it’s turned on. Google will start putting those “Your account is locked” texts into a dark corner where you never have to see them.<\/span><\/p>\n For the iPhone folks:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Apple\u2019s approach is somewhat akin to a “private club”\u2014if the caller isn’t on the list, they won’t be admitted.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 For the Ultimate Peace and Quiet: Go to Settings > Apps > Phone and tap Silence Unknown Callers. If a number isn’t in your contacts, your phone stays silent and sends them straight to voicemail.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 Inbox Filtering: In Settings > Apps > Messages, turn on Filter Unknown Senders. This creates a separate tab in your messages just for people you don’t know, keeping your main list clean for friends and family.<\/span><\/p>\n Time to Fight Back with the “7726” Trick<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n When a spam text does sneak through, don’t just delete it\u2014report it. Forwarding it to 7726 (which spells SPAM on your keypad) tells your carrier exactly who the bad guys are, so they can block them for everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n On an iPhone:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Open the spam text (but do not click any links!).<\/span> On an Android (Google Messages):<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Open the conversation.<\/span> On a Samsung Phone (Samsung Messages):<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Open the message.<\/span> A Timely Reminder:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Never reply “STOP” to a text from a number you don’t recognize. To a scammer, “STOP” tells them, “Hey, I’m a real person, and I’m reading your messages!” It only leads to more spam.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To give you more protection against these digital miscreants, here are the official apps from the big three carriers. Most of these have a free version that covers the basics and a paid version for the “bells and whistles” like Caller ID names.<\/span><\/p>\n 1. Verizon: Call Filter<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Verizon\u2019s tool is great because it usually comes pre-installed on Android phones. If you don’t see it, you can install it from the store.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 Android: Get it on Google Play<\/a><\/span><\/span> The free version automatically blocks “high-risk” (likely fraud) calls. If you want it to block “potential spam” (annoying telemarketers), you just have to toggle that setting on inside the app.<\/span><\/p>\n 2. AT&T: ActiveArmor<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n AT&T changed the name of its security app a while back to ActiveArmor. It handles both calls and data security.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 Android: Get it on Google Play<\/span><\/a><\/span> This app has a “Nuisance Call” category. You can set it to “Block,” “Send to Voicemail,” or “Flag.” We recommend “Send to Voicemail”\u2014that way, if a real person is calling from a new number, they can still leave a message.<\/span><\/p>\n 3. T-Mobile: Scam Shield<\/span><\/p>\n T-Mobile is very aggressive about blocking scams at the network level, and this app is your remote control for those settings.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 Android: Get it on Google Play<\/a><\/span> Look for the “Scam Block” toggle. When you flip this on, T-Mobile stops the call before your phone starts ringing. It\u2019s like having a “No Trespassing” sign that actually works.<\/span><\/p>\n One More Thing, Columbo!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re using an iPhone, remember that after you install these apps, you have to tell your phone to let the app do its job:<\/span> Now you\u2019re all set to enjoy a much quieter phone!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Smartphone Tips: Silence the Scammers We believe your computer and phone should work for you, not the other way around. While we usually help you with your computer, we’re going to change things up a bit.\u00a0 Since quite a few of you now have smartphones, today, we’re going talk about smartphones – both Android and iPhones and\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101,1673,1680,4202,4422,4435],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31508"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31508"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31512,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31508\/revisions\/31512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nTaking Control: Silence the Scammers<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\n2. Long-press (press and hold) the body of the text message itself.<\/span>
\n3. Tap More… in the little menu that pops up.<\/span>
\n4. Tap the curved arrow in the bottom-right corner.<\/span>
\n5. In the “To:” box, type 7726 and hit Send.<\/span>
\n6. Wait: Your carrier will text you back asking for the sender’s number. Go back, copy that number, and text it back to 7726.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n2. Long-press the specific spam message.<\/span>
\n3. Tap the three vertical dots (top right) and select Forward.<\/span>
\n4. Choose New Message and type 7726 as the recipient.<\/span>
\n5. Hit Send.<\/span>
\n6. Wait: Just like the iPhone, look for a reply from your carrier asking for the “From” number. Reply with the scammer’s phone number to finish the job.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n2. Long-press the text bubble until the menu appears.<\/span>
\n3. Select Forward.<\/span>
\n4. Enter 7726 in the recipient box and tap Send.<\/span>
\n5. Reply to the carrier’s follow-up text with the scammer’s phone number.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\u2022 iPhone: Get it on the App Store<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\n\u2022 iPhone: Get it on the App Store<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n\u2022 iPhone: Get it on the App Store<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\n1. Go to Settings > Phone.<\/span>
\n2. Tap Call Blocking & Identification.<\/span>
\n3. Turn on the switch for your carrier’s app (Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile).<\/span><\/p>\n