How to block nuisance and scam calls in the UK for 2022

They can range from cold calls trying to sell you something you don’t want or need or recorded or automated messages telling you you’re due compensation, like for a mis-sold insurance policy such as PPI.

It is possible to report such calls to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at their website here.

There are also numerous ways to block such calls on your landline or smartphones, which the consumer site Which? have detailed.

How to block spam calls on your landline

Which? say that "most of the major landline phone providers now offer a free service to reduce the number of nuisance calls that you receive".

BT for example has a Call Protect feature which automatically diverts calls that BT believe to be coming from nuisance callers.

There are a number of options to block numbers on a landline or on a smartphone (PA)

They are put in customers' junk voicemail boxes and from there it can allow customers to create a blacklist of numbers they wish to block.

Sky has the Sky Talk Shield which blocks calls from automated services and asks live callers to identify themselves.

When customers answer the call they can hear a recording of this and can choose to answer it or add the number to a block list.

TalkTalk has a free CallSafe feature which works in a similar manner to Sky's Talk Shield.

How to block spam calls on your smartphone

If you have an iPhone then you can click the 'i' symbol next to your list of recent callers, which can be found in your Phone app in the 'Recents' tab at the bottom.

After you've clicked 'i' symbol next to the unwanted number, scroll down and tap Block this Caller.

If you have an Android phone you can also go into your Phone app and click the clock symbol which shows your call history.

You can then navigate to the number you want to block. Touching it will bring up a short menu, enabling you to choose to block it.