Take Back Your Phone: How to Reduce Spam and Stay Protected

These days, spam comes in many forms, from robocalls, to scam texts, to junk email, all trying to reach your phone or inbox. You may feel that you’re receiving more spam than legitimate communications anymore. And with new tactics that are often based in AI-generated content, it’s more important than ever to take action to protect yourself.

Blocking these calls, texts, and emails can seem impossible, but there are ways to stop or greatly reduce spam on your devices. Many of them are free and built into your phone or provided by your carrier, and some require a little setup and vigilance.

How Spam Reaches You And Why It’s Hard to Stop

Spam takes different forms, and recognizing how they come in is the first step to fighting back:

·         Robocalls and scam calls: Automated calls that might use recordings or even AI-generated voices. In fact, in 2024 the FCC banned robocalls that use AI-generated voices for scams.

·         Spam texts: Messages trying to get you to click links, send money, or reveal personal information, sometimes pretending to be from a bank, government agency, or delivery service.

·         Email spam and phishing: Emails that try to trick you into giving away your login info, clicking malicious links, or responding to fake offers.

These tactics may seem unrelated to each other, but once scammers get your number or email, they often try every channel. It’s important to block or filter across all channels, not just rely on blocking individual phone numbers.

Practical Steps for Blocking Spam

The right combination of tools, settings, and habits can work well together to reduce spam and scam attempts.

·         Use carrier or built-in spam-blocking tools: Most major mobile carriers offer built-in or optional spam-filtering services for calls and texts. You may have noticed these through labels like “Spam Risk” on incoming, unknown calls. Many smartphones now have settings like “Silence Unknown Callers” (iPhone) or “Filter spam calls” (Android / Google Phone) that automatically block known scam numbers. Also, you can now mark text messages as “Junk” on most mobile devices.

·         Add your number to the national do not call registry: The National Do Not Call Registry is still a useful tool that helps reduce unwanted calls from legitimate telemarketers, though it won’t stop scammers who ignore the rules.

·         Install spam-blocking apps: Apps such as spam-call and text blockers (e.g., apps with large databases of known spam numbers) can help catch spam calls and texts that slip through other filters.

·         Don’t engage, don’t confirm: When you get a suspicious call, don’t answer. Legitimate callers will leave a voicemail asking you to call back. If you do answer, don’t press any keys, don’t say “yes,” don’t follow any instructions, and hang up right away. Many spam systems use those responses to verify that a number is active so they can keep calling. Similarly, for texts and emails, don’t click links or reply, especially if you don’t recognize the sender.

·         Use a separate number and email for signups, online forms, or public posts: If you use one number for personal contacts and another for signups/advertising forms, you can keep your main number more private and less exposed to spam campaigns. This helps reduce spam across calls, texts, and email sign-ups. You can create “spare” numbers through services like Google Voice.

·         Always report spam: When you mark a text, email, or call as spam, that reporting helps regulators, carriers, and blocking services detect new scam sources and shut them down.

New Rules & Better Blocking

The FCC has adopted new rules aimed at cutting down scam and spam calls before they reach you. All U.S. voice-service providers are now required to block calls that come from suspicious numbers, such as invalid, unallocated, or “do-not-originate” numbers.

When a call is blocked, carriers must notify the caller with a special technical code so that legitimate callers can figure out if their call was wrongly blocked. The protections now also extend more clearly to unwanted commercial text messages. Texts were already heavily regulated, but the updated rules strengthen enforcement.

The FCC also provides several tips and resources for consumers to help mitigate spam and even has a Robocall Response Team, all designed to help provide protection.

The Best Strategy: Use Multiple Layers of Protection

Thanks to new 2025 FCC rules, carriers must now block suspicious calls more aggressively, and built-in filters from carriers and phone technology are better than ever at stopping obvious spam before it reaches you.

Still, scammers are getting smarter, using tactics like AI-generated voices, rotating numbers, spoofing caller ID, or switching from calls to texts and emails. That’s why your own awareness and habits matter, too.

There’s no single “silver bullet” against spam; however, by combining carrier tools, smart phone settings, blocking apps, and careful habits, you can dramatically cut down on spam and protect your phone, inbox, and peace of mind.