I don't have a solution, but just for information, our home landline has "always" been ex-directory and we still get scam calls, so going ex-directory may not help much.

Rod

The call guardian is part of the phone. Buy a new phone with it.

We bought a phone that has the ability to block calls. Have had no trouble since we bought it.

We replaced our phones with BT Premium handsets @ £80 for 3 about 6 months ago due to constant scam calls, we had used all the usual methods that BT offered. But the scammers constantly found ways around these methods & BT said it was very difficult for them to stop these calls. Since we installed the BT premium handsets we have not had 1 single scam call in 6 months, i believe these phones use something called True Call which stops scammers calls coming through to your number, best 80 quid we ever spent for complete peace now re phones constantly ringing.

We used to be with BT until recently and I always found it best to talk to them about possible services etc on the phone rather than using other methods.

I do not know what other providers are like (yet).

Edited for odd words.

Edited By V8Eng on 21/07/2020 14:52:32

These scammers around the world are very clever & ahead of the curve, in the end the scammers number would come up on the phone as UK numbers when they were not. This is one reason why they got through & fooled the usual methods that phone company's offered usually for free to block calls. These numbers would come up as not recognised numbers when you tried to trace the number, they also constantly changed these numbers which is why BT could not keep up with blocking these numbers. I understand their true call technology has a way of not letting these calls through & the calls are diverted & binned somewhere. With True Call it lets your known numbers through straight away to you, numbers out side of this you get a call from BT to say who is calling & do you want the call. Up until now not one scammer has ever got through to even an announced call to us. We had over the years used all the other usual methods that you do to stop unwanted calls with nothing stopping them completely, it was a strange feeling when we first installed these phones where we were so used to the phone ringing constantly through out the day. You would be sitting waiting for the phone to ring where we were so used to the ringing all day off & on.

My TalkTalk account has a feature similar to the BT Call Guardian. Its free to use – you just have to request it to be switched on. Calls are intercepted by TalkTalk and if the number isn't on the whitelist the caller is asked to state their name, which is recorded. The call is then placed and the recipient is told who is calling by playing the recorded name. If you press 1 the call is accepted and the number is placed on a whitelist. If you press 2 the call is accepted but the number isn't added to the whitelist. If you press 3 the call is rejected and the number is placed on a blacklist.

Calls from blacklisted numbers don't get through.

Since I've been using it I get almost no unwanted calls because scammers are reluctant to give their names.

It works well for me.

Plus 1 for BT Call guardian, had it three years now, and using it we have blocked all overseas inbound calls, and it works like a charm.

Ian

+1 for Tuecall. We have the stand alone Truecall unit and it has certainly proved its worth. For a small annual sum you can access it via the internet which means you could control it from your home without having to visit. You can set star callers who come through automatically and zap callers you definitely don't want. All the others have to give a name or number. The odd one gets through but it certainly blocks the majority.

Peter

We were always being pestered by nuisance calls, so I bought a BT branded cordless phone (actually have 3 phones but you can get just the one). This incorporates call screening and blocking facilities without any extra ongoing costs and can be used with any service provider.

Have had it for a couple of years now and it has completely stopped nuisance calls.

You can programme friends, family etc in and they get through straight away. Any number not in the list gets a recorded message asking who is calling. A legitimate caller responds, the phone then rings and plays the callers message. You can choose to accept or reject the call, or leave it to let the answerphone switch in. Scammers and nuisance callers don’t respond and also silent calls don’t even cause the phone to ring.

Cant recommend it highly enough.

It incorporates Truecall technology, but there are no ongoing costs.

Stuart