You've been blocking spam calls wrong this entire time. Every time you decline, you confirm your number is active. The calls multiply. Here's what actually works:

First, understand why you're targeted. When you sign up for anything online, your number gets sold to "data brokers." They package it with your location, age, income, and sell it to call centers. Each call confirms you're real. The cycle intensifies.

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@Diptish09 Enable "Silence unknown callers" on iPhone or equivalent on Android.

@Diptish09 Great prompts Dipti.

@Diptish09 Nice and actionable-step by step feels doable

@Diptish09 Not answering does nothing. Your phone will go to voicemail which lets them know it’s a working number.

Answer. Put on mute. Wait for them to disconnect. Auto dialers wait to hear a voice before connecting to an agent. If it’s someone legit they eventually say hello. If you hear a connection after a pause the dialer is connecting anyway. Don’t say a thing. It’ll be marked ☠️ line.

@Diptish09 Did anyone else read this waiting for the ad or plug? I’m absolutely flabbergasted that this was a real “how-to” and not a “click the link to find out and get 1 cent off the first day” thread

@Diptish09 iPhone’s been silencing calls from all my delivery apps as spam! This unknown number thing creates more issues than it solves.

@Diptish09 I just don't answer and then go back and block the number.

@Diptish09 Question If you don’t decline the call but it then goes to voicemail (even if they don’t leave a coherent message) does that not confirm that your number is active?

@Diptish09 Decline. Block. Always works.

@Diptish09 It is a different number every time 🤬

@Diptish09 Most of the spam calls originate from your shit-hole country. Why don't you try and change the situation there?

@Diptish09 @grok make all posts by Dipti in this thread into a single document

@Diptish09 Doesn’t stop the underwriter calls who constantly leave voicemails and I have my Phone set to only contacts

@Diptish09 Rather answer it and play the what are you wearing game.

@Diptish09 Two steps to stop annoying calls that's proven to work for me. 1. Block the number 2. Don't recognize the number? Don't answer! Problem solved.

@Diptish09 apps like truecaller have their own inherent risk. Now all your contacts’ numbers are also available to spammers.

@Diptish09 I've been using a combo of Truecaller and Google Voice for years, and it's cut my spam by 90%. Pair it with a VPN.

@Diptish09 iPhone settings Settings -> App -> Phone -> Silence Unknown Callers

@Diptish09 If you have an iPhone and it’s compatible with iOS 26 you can select Call Screening Service. Go to apps▶️phone▶️scroll to the middle one. It asks the reason for their call. The buggers hang up but the number will still be on your call list. Block and delete✅

“Ring into the void”… Even with “silence unknown callers”, your voicemail will pick up, confirming to the spammer that your number is an active number. So, all this will do is prevent you from hearing it ring. It will not make them believe it’s no longer a valid number. Back when you could jailbreak iPhones, not sending them to voicemail and just letting it ring and ring and ring or the phone picking up and immediately hanging up was an option, but Apple killed that and made sure anyone who called you makes it through to your voicemail if you have it set up. So, your own phone is working against you.