How to report nuisance phone calls
These calls are driving me mad right now!
Do you ever rush to answer your phone, whether that me mobile or landline, and it turns out it is one of those nuisance marketing calls? It seems to happen on a daily basis at the same time for me right now and I am always very careful where I enter my phone number.
My landline is ex-directory so this shouldn’t be happening on there at all and my mobile number I have had for years but the problem has only just started happening.
There are many different nuisance calls you can receive. I have done some research into how we can get them blocked and/or reported…
- Automated marketing calls.
When you answer the call, an automated message is played to you. It may be about claiming back PPI, it may be about wanting to discuss you injury you had at work or it could be wanting to discuss the car accident you were in – there are many of these different calls, these are just a few examples.
Companies or organisations making automated marketing calls must have your permission before they call you. If you are receiving automated marketing calls and have not given prior permission, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is responsible for enforcing regulations in this area.
- Abusive and threatening calls.
It is actually a criminal offence to receive an abusive or threatening phone call whether it is someone you know or a stranger. If it happens, contact your phone company immediately and ask for their nuisance or malicious team. This team may be able to help you get the phone number blocked or advise you to contact the police.
Your phone company may offer ‘anonymous call rejection’ which can help prevent these kinds of calls in the future but make sure you ask your provider if there’s a charge for this service before accepting it.
If you receive a death threat, it is advised by OFCOM that you dial 999 immediately.
See more information on this HERE…
- Live telesales call
A live telesales call is when someone is on the other end of the line trying to sell you something such as double glazing.
These companies are allowed to contact however they can NOT call if you;
– Told them previously that you don’t want to receive telesales calls from them
-Registered your number with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) or Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS), unless you have previously given a company permission to make marketing calls to you (e.g. by ticking or unticking a tick box on a form when starting a new service or getting a product from the company).
There are many ways you can stop these calls, I advise seeing the official website HERE
It may be worth registering your landline with the TPS service. It can’t completely stop all of the nuisance calls but it can help to reduce the number you get.
See more on the TPS service HERE…
Most smart phones have the ability to ‘block’ a certain phone number from the device. It may be worth doing this if the nuisance caller is always using the same phone number.
Feel free to pass this on and help others who are sick of being pestered…
