Tired of those unwanted phone calls at the most annoying times? All kinds of companies that want to sell you something and keep calling on your regular phone and mobile? Plus tells you what you can do about it.
Telemarketing
There are plans to ban direct marketing over the phone in the future. At least as long as you have not given explicit permission for it. But until then, you still have a good chance of getting a call in the middle of dinner or at another annoying time from a company that wants to sell you a ‘better’ energy contract, ‘cheaper’ internet or other merchandise.
This telemarketing is usually outsourced to specialized companies that have large amounts of telephone numbers in their databases. Because these companies specifically earn their living by selling products and services over the phone, they are often very persistent. They usually don’t give up until they get someone on the line at the auto-dial number. It’s not illegal, but it’s often annoying.
Suspicious phone numbers
Fortunately, if you are not waiting for these kinds of unwanted calls, there is something you can do. In the first place, it helps if you recognize the numbers. Telemarketing companies often call with two types of numbers. One starts with 085. That is a special number that is not tied to a region and is therefore widely used by companies. So if you get a call because of this, in most cases it will be telemarketing.
Other direct marketers like to call with a hidden number. You almost always know for sure that it is a company that is trying to sell you something. The more questionable the company, the faster it will use a hidden number.
Also note the country code for the phone number. If there is something other than 0031 or +31 at the beginning, you will be called from abroad. Usually it concerns scammers who try to sell you something or, on the contrary, try to cheat you out of your data, such as login codes for your computer or bank.
In all cases the following applies: when a phone call is important and personal enough, people will leave a message on the voicemail. Incidentally, some telemarketing companies or scammers sometimes do this. In that case: when you listen to the voicemail and the message and speaker are unclear, do not call back the number provided. There is a chance that you will literally be held on a leash. You are put on a break and in the meantime pay extra telephone costs.
Numbers on your contact list
A good way to distinguish unwanted calls from unwanted calls on your phone is to store trusted people’s numbers with your contacts. This often works slightly differently for each type of telephone, but in broad terms it comes down to the following… The number that called you is shown in an overview. The number has an icon that points to your contacts. Tap that and you’ll be given the chance to add the number to your contact list with a name. Only do this with songs you trust.
From now on, the name of your contact will now be displayed when you receive a call from that number. Do you only see a phone number? Then it concerns an unknown number and you can choose whether or not to answer.
Check numbers
If you have been called by an unknown number, you can sometimes find out who that number belongs to. For example, there are several national and international websites that mainly track numbers of annoying callers. People can post their experiences with a telephone number and the company or organization behind it. If it concerns a dubious company, you will see that very quickly on these types of sites.
Instead of going to such a separate site, it’s best to just type the phone number into a search engine like Google, Bing or Duckduckgo. When it comes to a number of a regular company, you will quickly see it at the top of the search results. If it is a telemarketing company or a scammer, the sites mentioned will appear with responses to the number at the top of the search results. Simply click on one of those sites and learn more about the song’s origin.
Do not call me
A good tool to avoid unwanted telemarketing calls is the Do Not Call Registry. You can find this on www.bel-me-niet.nl.
You can have the numbers of your landline and mobile registered in the register. This prevents you from being bothered with unwanted telemarketing. Companies and organizations engaged in telemarketing are legally obliged to keep to this register. Do they call? Then it is possible to submit a complaint. More information about this can be found on the Bel-me-niet website.
There are a number of limitations to the Do not call register. First, it can take up to six weeks after registration before telemarketers are required to adhere to the registry.
The register also does not apply to companies and organizations of which you are or have already been a customer. If you no longer wish to be called, you must inform the relevant company or organization itself. They are then obliged to comply with this. The Do Not Call Registry also does not block telephone market surveys. For this you have to register in a separate register: www.onderzoekfilter.nl.
And of course… companies from abroad or who are already operating illegally will not keep to the register. For that you have to rely on the other methods in this article.
Block numbers
You can block unwanted numbers on your mobile and some landlines. So if you no longer want to receive calls from a certain number, you can indicate this via the relevant number in the call overview. For example on an iPhone it goes like this:
- Click on the icon behind the number in the overview of recent calls.
- click on Block this caller.
On other phones, you block a number in a similar way.
Unfortunately, blocking is not possible if it concerns a hidden number. There is simply no number to stop. Fortunately, there is a way to automatically ignore those kinds of numbers as well. Smartphones have a do not disturb option. This means that your phone will not ring if this option is on.
You can specify that all numbers should fall under do not disturb, but also that phone numbers in your contact list can be allowed through. That way you are still accessible to acquaintances. You will not hear a call from an unknown number, but you will see on your screen that someone has called. This way you can call back to trusted numbers outside your contact list.
On the iPhone, set up do not disturb like this:
- Tap on Settings.
- Tap on Do not disturb.
- Tap on Allow calls from.
- Specify who you can reach.
On an Android smartphone, the option depends on the brand, model and Android version. Basically it works like this:
- Tap on Settings.
- Optionally tap Sound or Sounds and Vibration.
- Tap on Do not disturb.
- Tap on Exceptions (Allow).
- Optionally tap Adjusted.
- Optionally tap Calling from.
- Specify who you can reach.
apps
A number of apps are also available for the smartphone against unwanted phone calls. These are called call blocker apps. Some names are: TrueCaller, Call Control and Should I Answer. These apps analyze phone traffic worldwide and as a result have extensive lists of phone numbers used by telemarketers, spammers and scammers. Not only can you block numbers in all sorts of ways, but in many cases you can also see who is hiding behind a phone number. A disadvantage of these apps is that they monitor all your phone traffic and not everyone likes that. They are also not really focused on the Netherlands.
Finally
There are many ways to protect yourself against unwanted phone calls, but you can avoid a lot of problems yourself by being precise with giving your regular and especially mobile number on the internet. Do not post your number publicly on websites and social media. And pay close attention to which form you fill in when ordering from an online store or creating an account. If it’s not really necessary, don’t give up.
