How do I block calls from anyone not in my contacts.

Peter Postma

Member
Jan 17, 2018
5
0
0
I know I am not the first to ask, but none of the previous questions match mine and the solutions certainly do not apply.

I know I am not the only one and other people are looking for a solution to the latest scourge on this planet. The non-stop, scam marketing calls. This disease has progressed and changed to the point that most tools against it no longer work.

The problem is they keep calling. Since I have a google number as well, I get twice as many calls. From 2-5 calls a day. The spam calls outnumber my real calls 4:1 and I have gotten use to simply ignoring my phone ring.

Some versions of android have the setting to do what I want, but I am not finding this on the LG flavor of my G6.

Here are the things that don't work and why:

  • Setting default ring tone to silence and setting a ringtone for all contacts. I have 500+ contacts, associates and co-workers. That would take me 2 days of dedicated time. And I don't believe that copies well from phone to phone
  • Setting the phone to DND and marking all contacts as VIP. That silences email notices, calendar alerts, app alerts, and prevents the use of an actual DND setting that I use on a weekly basis (movies, dinner).
  • Apps that let it ring through, then ask if you want to block or look it up online. This feature is already built into android, why duplicate that? And the spam calls come from a new number every time. So I have a huge blocklist on my phone that isn't stopping anything. When I hit 400+ numbers on the block list, my phone would ring, then hang as it sorted through them to see if the call should be blocked. I had to reduce the list to be able to answer the real calls.
  • Call filters by leading digits. Yes, they do block local numbers that the spammers are spoofing, but in my state there are 80+ local codes (231, 248, 269, 313, 417, 616, 810) - (214, 241, 244, 247, 356, 432, 450, 455, 498, 504, 550, 554, 656, 669, 836, 885, 974, etc) - xxxx. That's 120 filters just to start! And they don't always spoof just a local number either.
  • Apps that users haven't actually used but are recommending. I'm asking because I don't have time to test the 400 apps on the market claiming to do this. I have already tried 8 so far based on previous recommendations and wasted my time.
  • Apps who's bug is to block all calls, no matter what. Especially if they don't send it to voicemail. What's the point of having a phone if I can never receive a (legit) call?
  • Apps who have the setting that seems to do what I want, but don't. Hiya, CallControl, etc. I can set it to "Block Calls from Unknown" and they let it all through anyway.
  • Apps that don't block but actively filter by text (Hiya). They block the call (maybe) but send a challenge text message to the caller. Hey, either that number is a real telemarketing land line which costs me $.25 on every challenge (lose money to telemarketers!) or its a spoofed local number, which has a real but unsuspecting person on the other side who then replies to the text message "wtf is this bout?"
  • Of course any malicious app that pops up ads while I am using the phone and beings downloading and installing any apps they recommend in the background with or without confirmation. If I have to say "no" to an app 4+ times a day... I'm in no better position than when the spammers were calling me. At least the spammers don't get control of my phone and use up my storage space.

I am hoping that there are settings I can fix, or future updates of android, where we have the option to "Ignore all calls from non-contacts". But until then any app that [actually] blocks calls will be great
 

Peter Postma

Member
Jan 17, 2018
5
0
0
Call Blocker by Vlad Lee is being completely successful so far! sends unrecognized numbers straight to voicemail, no ring.
It only has 1 non-dismissable notification telling you that it is protecting you.
 

Morty2264

Ambassador
Mar 6, 2012
22,921
1,053
113
Call Blocker by Vlad Lee is being completely successful so far! sends unrecognized numbers straight to voicemail, no ring.
It only has 1 non-dismissable notification telling you that it is protecting you.

That is so great! I was going to suggest contacting your carrier; but then that could sometimes mean additional fees or a long time on the phone. So glad this app is working for you.

My mom is getting harassed by scam calls via her landline; with the same, "Your Google listing is expired" garbage. Too bad it wasn't her cell in this case, because I'd definitely use the app you recommended! I agree, it's getting much worse of late.
 

bobdob

Well-known member
Apr 16, 2013
220
0
16
I'm definitely going to have to remember this call blocker. When I am not "on call" for work, there is almost zero reason for anyone to be calling my cell phone, much less anyone not in my contacts. So the ratio of spam-to-real calls for me is even higher than yours.

AT&T has started to offer a (free) spam call blocker service. The app is a little wonky (for a while, it would report that it blocked 10-20 calls from the same number at the same time, and now the "blocked" log is always empty, though I will occasionally get a notification that something was blocked) but it seems to either block or flag the majority (maybe 3/4) of unwanted calls.

The "on call" thing is the only thing that makes me not run out and get this NOW (because I would need to receive calls from unknown numbers during "on call").
 

jchapman01

Well-known member
May 8, 2010
481
1
18
I know I am not the first to ask, but none of the previous questions match mine and the solutions certainly do not apply.

I know I am not the only one and other people are looking for a solution to the latest scourge on this planet. The non-stop, scam marketing calls. This disease has progressed and changed to the point that most tools against it no longer work.

The problem is they keep calling. Since I have a google number as well, I get twice as many calls. From 2-5 calls a day. The spam calls outnumber my real calls 4:1 and I have gotten use to simply ignoring my phone ring.

Some versions of android have the setting to do what I want, but I am not finding this on the LG flavor of my G6.

Here are the things that don't work and why:

  • Setting default ring tone to silence and setting a ringtone for all contacts. I have 500+ contacts, associates and co-workers. That would take me 2 days of dedicated time. And I don't believe that copies well from phone to phone
  • Setting the phone to DND and marking all contacts as VIP. That silences email notices, calendar alerts, app alerts, and prevents the use of an actual DND setting that I use on a weekly basis (movies, dinner).
  • Apps that let it ring through, then ask if you want to block or look it up online. This feature is already built into android, why duplicate that? And the spam calls come from a new number every time. So I have a huge blocklist on my phone that isn't stopping anything. When I hit 400+ numbers on the block list, my phone would ring, then hang as it sorted through them to see if the call should be blocked. I had to reduce the list to be able to answer the real calls.
  • Call filters by leading digits. Yes, they do block local numbers that the spammers are spoofing, but in my state there are 80+ local codes (231, 248, 269, 313, 417, 616, 810) - (214, 241, 244, 247, 356, 432, 450, 455, 498, 504, 550, 554, 656, 669, 836, 885, 974, etc) - xxxx. That's 120 filters just to start! And they don't always spoof just a local number either.
  • Apps that users haven't actually used but are recommending. I'm asking because I don't have time to test the 400 apps on the market claiming to do this. I have already tried 8 so far based on previous recommendations and wasted my time.
  • Apps who's bug is to block all calls, no matter what. Especially if they don't send it to voicemail. What's the point of having a phone if I can never receive a (legit) call?
  • Apps who have the setting that seems to do what I want, but don't. Hiya, CallControl, etc. I can set it to "Block Calls from Unknown" and they let it all through anyway.
  • Apps that don't block but actively filter by text (Hiya). They block the call (maybe) but send a challenge text message to the caller. Hey, either that number is a real telemarketing land line which costs me $.25 on every challenge (lose money to telemarketers!) or its a spoofed local number, which has a real but unsuspecting person on the other side who then replies to the text message "wtf is this bout?"
  • Of course any malicious app that pops up ads while I am using the phone and beings downloading and installing any apps they recommend in the background with or without confirmation. If I have to say "no" to an app 4+ times a day... I'm in no better position than when the spammers were calling me. At least the spammers don't get control of my phone and use up my storage space.

I am hoping that there are settings I can fix, or future updates of android, where we have the option to "Ignore all calls from non-contacts". But until then any app that [actually] blocks calls will be great

Interesting. I'm using Hiya now and it blocks all calls that are unknown or suspected scam/spam. The only time I find that it doesn't is if the app has been updated recently, I have to open the app once and I'm set. I do agree with the text challenge, tho. I haven't had anyone reply to the text, but I'd rather not send a text out.
 

patruns

Well-known member
May 21, 2011
3,204
68
48
I use Norton's anti-virus app. It includes an option to block anyone not in my contacts list and send them straight to voice mail.
 

Aura1

Active member
Sep 13, 2018
40
0
0
So, going to > Phone App > Call logs > tap on offending number > tap on 3 dots top right > Block number - - - - - works for me every time.

As far as I can tell, you can't do it on the fly, like when the call comes in and instead of swiping up to not accept the call, you should be able to "Block call immediately", but at least you can do it as shown above.
 

jchapman01

Well-known member
May 8, 2010
481
1
18
So, going to > Phone App > Call logs > tap on offending number > tap on 3 dots top right > Block number - - - - - works for me every time.

As far as I can tell, you can't do it on the fly, like when the call comes in and instead of swiping up to not accept the call, you should be able to "Block call immediately", but at least you can do it as shown above.

I think the OP wants to mass block anyone that's not in his contact or whitelist. blocking numbers one-by-one doesn't really fix the problem when they just call from a new number later on.
 

Philip Shields

New member
Mar 9, 2019
1
0
0
Google suspended Norton's call block today.

I use Norton's anti-virus app. It includes an option to block anyone not in my contacts list and send them straight to voice mail.

I've had great luck with Norton's call blocking, but...today Norton notified me that Google has suspended this feature from use. Does anyone know how to complain to Google for it's return?
 

patruns

Well-known member
May 21, 2011
3,204
68
48
It is still working for me. I can't imagine why Google would do that. Are you sure the email actually came from Norton?
 

patruns

Well-known member
May 21, 2011
3,204
68
48
"Google has recently updated its Permissions policy for Play Store apps, and has added more restrictions on the apps that access Call logs and text messages or SMS. It requires App Developers to remove SMS permissions and Call Logs. For more information, read the Google Play Permissions policy.

To comply with these policy changes, the Call Blocking and Anti-Theft features using SMS or Text Commands are currently unavailable in Norton Mobile Security on Android OS 9.0 or later."

You should be ok as the G6 is on 8.0.
 

kgambino

Well-known member
Mar 29, 2012
71
0
6
currently testing Call blocker by Vlad Lee
Has anyone noticed a battery drain with this app? It works great, but I have recently noticed a battery drain. This is the newest app installed. I have an LG G6 using Android 8.0.
 

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