Your phone already has built-in tools to filter scam calls and texts — most people just have never turned them on. Here are five settings worth changing today, for both iPhone and Android.

1. Enable "Silence Unknown Callers" (iPhone)

Go to Settings → Phone → Silence Unknown Callers and turn it on. Calls from numbers not in your contacts, recent calls, or Siri suggestions will be silenced and sent to voicemail. Scammers almost always call from numbers you don't know.

On Android, the equivalent is Settings → Phone → Caller ID & Spam → Filter Spam Calls.

2. Turn on Spam Protection in your phone app

On iPhone: your carrier may offer this — check with AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile for their free call protection apps (AT&T ActiveArmor, Verizon Call Filter, T-Mobile Scam Shield).

On Android: open the Phone app, go to Settings → Caller ID & Spam and enable both "See caller and spam ID" and "Filter spam calls."

3. Enable message filtering (iPhone)

Go to Settings → Messages → Filter Unknown Senders and turn it on. Texts from unknown numbers will be sorted into a separate tab and won't trigger notifications — significantly reducing the chances of accidentally clicking a scam link.

4. Never click links in unexpected texts

This is a habit, not a setting — but it belongs on this list. Even if a text appears to be from USPS, your bank, or Amazon, never click links in texts. Go directly to the company's website instead. This alone blocks the majority of smishing (text-based phishing) attacks.

5. Set up a Google Voice or similar number for online forms

When websites or forms ask for your phone number, giving your real number adds it to lists that get sold to scammers. A free Google Voice number (voice.google.com) can be used for these situations so your real number stays private.

Bonus: check if your number is on scammer lists

Search for your phone number in quotes on Google — you may find it listed on data broker sites. You can request removal from major brokers like WhitePages, Spokeo, and BeenVerified to reduce the calls you receive.

Written by Garland A. Hurt, Founder & Information Security Officer, ProtectMyCircle.

Got a message that looks like this?

Paste it into ProtectMyCircle and get an instant plain-English verdict — free, no account needed.

Check it now — free