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How to Block Spam Calls and Texts on iPhone

An iPhone lying face up on a kitchen table while a stream of small ringing handsets bounces off a soft glass dome over it and drifts away

Stop spam calls on iPhone with Screen Unknown Callers, the Spam filter, number blocking and your carrier's free tools. Plus how to filter and report spam texts.

Marco Lee6 min read

To block spam calls on iPhone, go to Settings > Apps > Phone, set Screen Unknown Callers to Ask Reason for Calling or Silence, and turn on the Spam filter under Call Filtering. Block single numbers from your call history, add your carrier’s free spam blocking, and filter texts with Screen Unknown Senders in Messages.

These steps follow Apple’s iPhone User Guide for current iOS. They depend on your iOS version, not your model, so they’re the same on an iPhone 17 or iPhone 16 running the same update. On older iOS without Apps in Settings, tap Phone directly in Settings.

Screen or silence unknown callers

  1. Open Settings, tap Apps, then tap Phone.
  2. Scroll to Screen Unknown Callers.
  3. Choose Never, Ask Reason for Calling or Silence (Apple Support).

Ask Reason for Calling is Call Screening. Apple describes it this way: it “automatically answers calls from unknown numbers without interrupting you. After the caller shares their name and reason for their call, your iPhone rings and shares their response so you can decide if you want to pick up.” Siri speaks to the caller in your iPhone’s default language (iPhone User Guide).

Silence sends calls from unsaved numbers straight to voicemail. They still appear in your Recents list (iPhone User Guide).

A few limits from Apple: standard calling and data rates may apply to screening, calls aren’t screened while you’re roaming, and if you call emergency services, call screening turns off for 24 hours (Apple Support).

I’d pick Ask Reason for Calling if real people reach you from unknown numbers, like a doctor’s office or a delivery driver. Pick Silence if they don’t. Either way, Apple’s advice is to add important numbers, such as family, your child’s school and your doctor, to Contacts first (Apple Support).

What “Silence Unknown Callers” does

In the Phone app, Silence Unknown Callers is now the Silence option above. FaceTime still has a Silence Unknown Callers switch in Settings > Apps > FaceTime. There, “Incoming calls will continue to ring from people in your contacts, recent outgoing calls, and Siri Suggestions” (iPhone User Guide).

Silencing isn’t blocking. The caller can still leave a voicemail, and a spammer using a number you’ve saved still rings through.

Turn on the Spam and Unknown Callers filters

  1. Go to Settings > Apps > Phone.
  2. Scroll to Call Filtering.
  3. Turn on Spam. Calls “identified by your carrier as potential spam or fraud are silenced, sent to voicemail, and moved to the Spam list.”
  4. Turn on Unknown Callers if you want calls from unknown numbers removed from Recents and moved to their own list (iPhone User Guide).

So the Spam filter is only as good as your carrier’s labels. To check what was caught, open the Phone app, tap Calls (or Recents in the Classic layout), tap the Filter button, then Unknown Callers or Spam. If a real caller lands there, tap Mark as Known (iPhone User Guide).

How to block a specific number

From your call history:

  1. Open the Phone app and tap Recents (or Calls).
  2. Tap the number, or the Info button in the Classic layout.
  3. Scroll down and tap Block Caller (Apple Support).

From a text, open the conversation, tap the person’s icon at the top, tap Info, then Block Contact. Blocking in Messages also blocks that contact in Phone, FaceTime, Mail, Calendar and other apps (iPhone User Guide).

To add a number by hand or see everyone you’ve blocked, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Blocked Contacts and tap Add Blocked Contact. Unblock from the same list (iPhone User Guide).

A blocked caller can still leave a voicemail, but you won’t get a notification, and they aren’t told they’ve been blocked (Apple Support). Scammers often spoof phone numbers (Verizon), so blocking one at a time only goes so far. The filters above and your carrier’s tools cover the rest.

Call-blocking apps: Call Blocking & Identification

Go to Settings > Apps > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification. This is where you turn on Business Call Identification, which uses Apple Business Connect or your carrier, and any supported caller ID apps you’ve installed (iPhone User Guide).

Your carrier’s spam call blocking

The iPhone Spam filter already depends on your carrier’s labels. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile also have their own blocking apps.

  • AT&T ActiveArmor is free with every AT&T wireless plan and lets you “block unwanted calls or have them sent to voicemail.” Fraud calls are set to Block automatically, spam calls are labeled when possible, and you can block private callers. You need an active voice mailbox to send callers to voicemail. AT&T notes it “May not detect all threats and may inadvertently block wanted calls” (AT&T, AT&T Support).
  • Verizon Call Filter is free on standard monthly and prepaid plans with a compatible phone, and “blocks high-risk spam calls by forwarding to voicemail.” You manage it in the Verizon Protect app, which needs iOS 16.6 or later. A personal block list is part of the paid Call Filter Plus. Verizon “doesn’t guarantee that all spam calls will be detected” (Verizon).
  • T-Mobile Scam Shield is T-Mobile’s version. T-Mobile’s ScamShield page lists what it includes.

To keep wanted calls from being caught, turn on Always allow contacts in AT&T’s app (AT&T Support). Verizon suggests saving numbers you want to your contacts (Verizon).

How to report a spam call

If you answer one, hang up. Verizon warns that talking, reacting or following prompts like “press 1” can mark your number as live and bring more calls (Verizon). Then:

  • Report it in your carrier’s app. Both AT&T’s and Verizon’s apps have a report option (AT&T Support, Verizon).
  • In the US, report scam calls to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov (Apple Support).
  • For an unwanted FaceTime call, touch and hold it in your call history and tap Report Spam (iPhone User Guide).

If a caller claiming to be Apple or your bank seems off, hang up and dial the company’s number yourself (Apple Support).

How to block spam texts on iPhone

  1. Open Messages. In the conversation list, tap the Filter button, then Manage Filtering.
  2. Turn on Screen Unknown Senders. Texts from people you don’t know go to a separate folder, and you aren’t notified unless you choose to be.
  3. To still get time-sensitive texts like verification codes, tap Allow Notifications and pick the categories you want.
  4. For more sorting, go back, tap Text Message Filter and turn it on, along with any message filter app you’ve installed (iPhone User Guide).

Spam filtering is on by default, with its Filter Spam switch on the same screen. To find a real text caught by mistake, tap the Filter button, then Spam (iPhone User Guide). Text message filtering doesn’t apply to anyone you’ve replied to three or more times, so block or report those senders instead (iPhone User Guide).

Report a junk text

  • Not opened yet: swipe left on it, tap the Delete button, then Delete and Report Spam.
  • Already opened: tap Report Spam at the bottom, then Delete and Report Spam.

You can’t report a message after you’ve replied to it. Reporting doesn’t stop the sender, so block them too. For SMS, MMS or RCS texts, where the report goes depends on your carrier and country. If you don’t see the option, contact your carrier (iPhone User Guide).

Don’t tap links in texts you weren’t expecting (Apple Support). A text saying your Apple Account is locked is a common one; here’s how to tell if it’s real. If you already tapped a link and typed something in, see how to check if your iPhone is hacked.

What Mistero can and can’t do here

Mistero doesn’t replace the settings above. Its listing doesn’t claim to screen calls like Ask Reason for Calling or to catch every spam call or text, so I’d keep Apple’s filters on.

What the listing does say is that on iPhone you can “enable caller identification, spam call blocking, and SMS filtering,” and that “Call identification, call blocking, and SMS filtering are available on iPhone only” (App Store listing, read Nov 2, 2026). Any third-party blocker, Mistero included, has to be switched on in iOS too. For calls, that’s Settings > Apps > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification (iPhone User Guide). For texts, open Messages, tap the Filter button, then Manage Filtering > Text Message Filter, and turn on the app’s filter (iPhone User Guide). Text filter apps only see SMS and MMS from unknown senders, never texts from your contacts or iMessages (Apple Developer).

For a scam text that gets through, Mistero Adblock in Safari can “Help block known phishing pages and malicious domains” (App Store listing, read Nov 2, 2026). That works only in Safari and only for pages already known to be bad, so a new scam page can still load. More on Mistero security.

Sources

Pricing New subscribers can start a 3-day free trial. After the trial, the subscription renews automatically at $12.99 per week unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends, in Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions (Apple Support). There's also a one-time Lifetime purchase for $99.99. These are US App Store prices as of October 2026; the purchase screen shows the current price before you confirm.

Frequently asked questions

Does Silence Unknown Callers block all spam calls?

No. It silences calls from numbers that aren't saved in your contacts and sends them to voicemail, so the caller can still leave a message and the call still shows in Recents. Spam from a number you've saved still rings, and calls aren't screened while you're roaming. Turn on the Spam filter and your carrier's blocking too.

Why am I suddenly getting so many spam calls?

There's no single answer for your number. One cause Verizon names: answering tells robocallers your number is active, and they can sell it to other telemarketers. Don't answer unknown numbers, hang up if you do, don't press keys, and report the number to the FTC.

Can I block calls with no caller ID on iPhone?

Not with Block Caller, which works on a phone number, contact or email. Apple doesn't say how Screen Unknown Callers treats hidden numbers. Carrier tools can: AT&T ActiveArmor lets you allow, block or send to voicemail private callers, meaning callers who hide their caller ID and number.

Do blocked callers know they're blocked on iPhone?

No. The contact doesn't get a notification that the call or message was blocked. A blocked caller can still leave a voicemail, but you won't be notified, and their messages aren't delivered.
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