People used to be safe from telemarketers when on their cell phones. Now that many people have given up their landlines and gone all-cell, the telemarketers have changed their methods and will call you on your cell phone too. Getting a telemarketer call on your cell is incredibly bothersome – especially because it can disrupt you at the most inconvenient times. Luckily, it isn’t too difficult to get telemarketers to stop calling. You just need a subscription to a reverse phone directory and an app on your phone.
Most telemarketers will use blocked numbers to call you because they know you aren’t going to pick up if your caller ID says something like “X marketing firm.” So, the first step to stopping telemarketers is to unblock blocked numbers. There are a few great applications which can be put on your phone to do this, such as Trap Call. These apps will cost a monthly fee but are a great way to stop those bothersome calls. If you are having problems with individuals calling you from blocked numbers (like a jealous ex, for example), then the services are also particularly useful.
Once you have the number unblocked, you can use a reverse phone directory to find out who it belongs to. Just type in the number to the reverse phone directory and it will tell you the name and address of the number’s registered owner. Then, you can contact this company directly and have them take you off their solicitation list.
Instead of using an app and reverse phone directory, you can ask your phone company to block all unknown numbers. However, this could be problematic if a friend is trying to call you and they have set their number as private. In some other cases, numbers also show up as private or unknown – like calls from the internet or from abroad. Unfortunately, cell phone companies do not let you block a specific number from calling. There are a few paid applications which give you this feature. That is where the reverse phone directory subscription comes in handy; it will help you know which numbers to block.
You should also take preventive measures against other telemarketing firms getting your cell number. Go to the DoNotCall.gov website to have your name taken off telemarketer lists. You will also want to go to OptOutPrescreen.com. There, you can have your name removed from the lists of the top three credit reporting bureau agencies, which will stop all those unsolicited credit card offers. Since they also sell the lists to other companies, it can stop a lot of other telemarketer calls too.
It is a bit annoying to have to monitor your calls with apps and reverse phone directory services – especially since you have to pay for them. However, just a few weeks of monitoring can be enough to figure out where the calls are originating from and get the bulk of these telemarketers to stop calling you.