Here in India, the telecom authority (TRAI) has prescribed various measures to curb unwanted calls and messages[1], with mixed success. They also have an app released[2], which essentially uses a template to send SMS to the number denoted for complaining about spam.
After a lot of action for around nine months, I got junk SMS and spam calls (both automated and otherwise) to a bare minimum. It did take some time and there were a lot of frustrations along the way, but was completely worth it.
Some good practices I figured from all this:
1. For spam calls where there is an actual human speaking to you, try and get them to reveal the name and location of their call center. Most of the time, the culprits are the same for different types of calls. Requesting to speak to their manager and having a friendly chat about the TRAI penalty system helped a lot in reducing the calls. Having a log of when they had called you in the past is also helpful; at least it conveys that you aren't some buffoon shouting at the clouds.
2. For SMS spam where the sender is a bunch of letters (eg. ZZ-ABCDEF), iPhone isn't able to add that contact to the block list. Using T9 to figure out those numbers and adding them[3] to the blocklist that way works. This is mostly for your telecom service provider who feels free to send you spam with no way for you to complain to TRAI, because you're using their service, and they don't care about do-not-disturb for such cases.
3. Naming and shaming on Twitter and email helps, especially for companies depending on their brand name. Funded startups in particular are abusers of spam calling and SMSes, but are also fearful of complaints on social media going viral.
4. This might be anecdotal, but I found I actually received fewer spam calls after removing my number from TrueCaller[4]. Ironically the service is used to figure out who's calling you, but I found that I don't need it at all, and not having my number in there has somehow proved beneficial.
5. Certain mobile service providers are more serious about acting on spam complaints than others. If you find that your provider is not heeding complaints about spam, definitely switch to another service if possible.
6. Some services do provide a DNC (Do Not Call) registry on their website. Do use those and keep a record of you having added your name to it.
After a lot of action for around nine months, I got junk SMS and spam calls (both automated and otherwise) to a bare minimum. It did take some time and there were a lot of frustrations along the way, but was completely worth it.
Some good practices I figured from all this:
1. For spam calls where there is an actual human speaking to you, try and get them to reveal the name and location of their call center. Most of the time, the culprits are the same for different types of calls. Requesting to speak to their manager and having a friendly chat about the TRAI penalty system helped a lot in reducing the calls. Having a log of when they had called you in the past is also helpful; at least it conveys that you aren't some buffoon shouting at the clouds.
2. For SMS spam where the sender is a bunch of letters (eg. ZZ-ABCDEF), iPhone isn't able to add that contact to the block list. Using T9 to figure out those numbers and adding them[3] to the blocklist that way works. This is mostly for your telecom service provider who feels free to send you spam with no way for you to complain to TRAI, because you're using their service, and they don't care about do-not-disturb for such cases.
3. Naming and shaming on Twitter and email helps, especially for companies depending on their brand name. Funded startups in particular are abusers of spam calling and SMSes, but are also fearful of complaints on social media going viral.
4. This might be anecdotal, but I found I actually received fewer spam calls after removing my number from TrueCaller[4]. Ironically the service is used to figure out who's calling you, but I found that I don't need it at all, and not having my number in there has somehow proved beneficial.
5. Certain mobile service providers are more serious about acting on spam complaints than others. If you find that your provider is not heeding complaints about spam, definitely switch to another service if possible.
6. Some services do provide a DNC (Do Not Call) registry on their website. Do use those and keep a record of you having added your name to it.
[1] https://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/RegulationUcc190... [2] https://apps.apple.com/in/app/trai-dnd-do-not-disturb/id1443... [3] https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/features/iphone-how-to-bloc... [4] https://support.truecaller.com/hc/en-us/articles/212063089-H...