There is nothing more annoying then when you are in the middle of doing something and the phone rings, only to find out it's a cold caller. It seems that more and more transactions these days require you to supply a telephone number,pbefore you can complete the transaction, so increasing the potential for cold callers to make contact if they sell your details on.
Here are some top tips to stop these calls in their tracks
- When you are asked to supply a telephone number instead of supplying your own number give this number - 0333 88 88 88 88. This will direct the cold caller to a free call blocking service called Truecall38 which will answer the call and ask the caller to not phone you but email you instead. If you use this number you will need to check your emails regularly to make sure you do not miss any important communications
- Register with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) which is a free central register where you can record your preference not to receive unsolicited sales or marketing calls
- Never respond to spam texts (do not text STOP) as this will alert the sender that your number is operational. Inform your network provider by forwarding the text to 7726
- Use the blocking facility on your phone to prevent further calls
- Don't respond to any unsolicited emails and never click on any links within emails
- Purchase a landline phone that provides caller display or caller announcement so that you can screen your calls
- To reduce the number of 'silent calls' register with SilentCall-Gard. It is a free service which has created a database of companies using predictive diallers and requests that you are not called from their dialler, this should reduce the calls you receive
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