Life is busy enough without wasting time on spammers, scammers, and telemarketers. Whether you're dealing with injury lawyers or a drunk-dialing ex, there are effective ways to stop the endless calls and messages.

If possible, don’t answer any calls from numbers you don't recognize. Callers with important information will likely leave a message anyway. Never click on links or attachments in spam texts, as doing so could trigger malware. Avoid responding to spam messages entirely; this confirms your number's validity for scammers. If unsure about a call or message, try typing the number into a search engine. While it can be tricky to confirm a scammer’s number, legitimate ones are usually easy to verify.

To block numbers on an iPhone, simply tap 'Block Caller' in the relevant apps. For filtering unknown callers and senders, you can set your phone to ask for more information before ringing or silently ignoring them. On Android phones, the process differs among manufacturers but generally involves tapping a long-press menu to block a number.

If telemarketers or scammers are using multiple numbers and changing them frequently, filtering unknown callers and senders can help. This feature requests more information from unsaved numbers before ringing your iPhone, or automatically silences calls from numbers not saved in your contacts. Messages can be filtered through the 'Screen Unknown Senders' option.