Identify & block unknown callers

Are you fed up with time-wasters trying to get money out of you?

- David Crookes

Scams have reached epidemic proportions and it's getting harder to avoid them. According to McAfee Labs, for example, PayPal-related scams have soared by 600% this year and Al-enhanced scams are also on the rise. Many arrive through unsolicited texts and phone calls which, aside from being annoying, could leave a serious dent in your wallet or well-being. So what can you do to protect yourself? Quite a lot, as it happens.

Many steps are being taken to tackle the problem. You could, for instance, use an anti-scam phone number - 159 - to call any bank and you can also report concerns to numerous official bodies. But your iPhone also has many built-in features designed to battle against spammers and scammers. Most seek to block although you can filter; go to Settings > Messages > Unknown & Spam and turn on Filter Unknown Senders if you want messages from non-contacts to appear in a separate list, for example.

HOW TO Use built-in iPhone features

Silence unknown callers

Silence callers Ensure your iPhone only rings when you're likely to know the caller by sending numbers not in your contacts, recent calls list or emails/texts to voicemail. Go to Settings > Apps > Phone > Calls > Silence Unknown Callers.