Samsung’s users If you are one of those people who regularly gets calls from banks and sometimes receives a sudden spam call, it includes fraud calls, which are quite common these days, so it’s better that you take some precautions ahead of any mishaps that may occur. In this case, all you have to do is enable the Smart Call feature to protect you from spam calls.
It’s quite irritating. Many have spent a lot of unproductive hours on sales calls or trying to sell their credit card, home loans, or health insurance. This feature is likely to be enough for the majority of people, as it does not block answering calls on Samsung phones. It is much easier to block all spam calls on an Android smartphone compared to an iPhone. Samsung isn’t the only OEM that offers the ability to block spam, as Google offers a similar service in the Phone by Google app.
What is Samsung Smart Call?
Samsung does offer an in-built spam-call protector that will automatically block any potential fraud and spam calls. Smart Call will automatically check for contacts not saved in your contact list and block any potential spam. In addition to this, you can also block or report calls to help other Samsung users recognize spam calls.
- Caller ID also helps with knowing if a person isn’t on the contact list.
- Potential Fraud: Helps with knowing any scams or fraud calls.
- Suspected spam, even spam that is just suspected.
Under the hood, it is powered by Hiya, which has already become one of the most popular services that help with identifying spam and scams, as well as people who aren’t on your contact list. You also need to know that Samsung doesn’t sync your blocker number list with Samsung Cloud or Google Drive if you enable Block Unknown and Private Numbers.
Smart Call results from a partnership between Samsung and Hiya, which runs through 2025 and is expected to be available on upcoming devices. It’s got a robust automated detection service to mix it up, while Samsung provides the hardware. To an extent, the feature relies on other users reporting and blocking numbers; however, spammers have to start somewhere.
Many other OEMs have been offering it, but those are not as reliable as the Samsung one. While the steps we have on the Samsung Phone app are similar, the process is similar on other dialers, including the Google Phone app and ODialer.
How to Stop Spammers from Getting Your Phone Number
You may be wondering how spammers get your mobile number. There are several common methods, like WhatsApp groups, soliciting donations, spotlighting contests, fake charities, and such. However, you can get numbers from businesses that display the caller’s IDS. One of the popular ways is for telemarketers to purchase phone number lists from third-party data providers. This is why we always advise caution when giving phone numbers.
It’s always important that you know the types of spam calls. Aside from telemarketers, spam calls may also come in the form of robocalls and scam calls from either individual bank representatives or computer experts who request personal information like credit cards under pretenses. We do recommend using spam filtering on the Samsung Phone app.
Scam calls from shady characters may be trying to take advantage of you; they pretend to be from the police, bank employees, or some relative, or maybe they are trying to reveal your financial or other sensitive data. Your device can block certain incoming calls in advance, but before trying, we recommend that you update your device’s software and apps to the latest version.
- Open the device settings.
- Head over to Software Update.
- Then, follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the latest OneUI on your Samsung device.
We recommend using Samsung Smart Call because, despite third-party apps being repurposable, there is a possibility that a developer will sell or share your data. We suggest sticking to the default spam filtering methods. Truecaller, which is the oldest app, has frequently had to deal with issues, like in 2019, when they had a data breach in the app that risked the details of over 47.5 million people in India.
How to enable Samsung to block spam calls using Smart Call
It’s quite straightforward.
- Open the Phone app, then click on the triple-dot vertical dots in the upper-right corner to open the More option.
- Then click on Settings and head over to Caller ID and Spam Protection.
- Simply toggle it on to enable caller ID and spam protection.
- Tap on it, and then at the bottom, you have the option to “Block all spam and scam calls” for the best protection.
After you enable it, Samsung will start protecting you from spam calls, and you can also choose to report calls to further narrow down the types of calls you want to avoid from the category. It will display information and a warning if it makes or receives calls from suspected spam numbers.
When this feature is enabled, your device won’t ring, so you may miss missed calls or voicemail notifications, but you can view them in your call history. You can block the call individually without asking to repeat the process for every number, which is simply enough.
In your phone app, if you show the blocked number by Smart Call, you can click on the information to learn more about it and also report it to further add details. Apart from blocking, you can also report the number by clicking on the message saying the call is fraudulent from a category such as general spam, scams, fraud, or telemarketers.
Despite having spam protection enabled, a new number may still be able to go through from time to time, so if you continue to receive spam calls, robocalls, or unidentified callers, you should consider getting help from your network operator.
How do I block an unknown and private number?
In addition, if you also don’t want to receive a call from an unknown or private number, enable the smart call and ensure you have also enabled the block number for the unknown or private number.
- Open the Phone app, then click on the triple-dot menu in the upper-right to open More Options.
- From there, tap on Block Number, and then enable Block Unknown or Private Number.
Do remember that it will block every contact that isn’t saved on your device. This means it can be oversensitive, as you may miss a few Amazon parcels as the app identifies calls from delivery staff as spam. If you have any similar issues, then disable the unknown and private numbers.
Let the Bixby Assistant do the talking.
One of the perks of using a Samsung device is that you can use the call screen, aka call assistant, which allows Bixby to take calls and ask the party on the other side why they’re calling you. For me, this feature gives users relief from spam calls, and to enable it, here are the instructions to follow.
- Open the Phone app, then tap on the triple-line to open more settings.
- Then tap on settings, and from there, go to text calls.
- Enable it, and that’s it.
You can further customize the language, voice, and quick response. So now, when you receive a call, you have the Call Assist option, which takes you to a screen where it will first introduce that you are using Call Assist and hear from recipients for transience, and then you can reply with text.
Enable voice recording for the saved number.
It is important that you enable auto-call recording for an unsaved number. It may come in handy. If you are receiving pesky telemarketers, scammers, or annoying accounts, those recordings can be used to file a complaint with the police if needed.
- Open the Phone app, then tap on the triple-line to open More Settings.
- Go to Record Calls, and then tap on it.
- Enable auto-recorded calls, and then choose Calls with Unsaved Numbers.
- You can list the recorded calls from the Recording app, but you can view the recorded calls from the same menu.
It’s quite rare that some may have bypassed the smart call protection, so don’t forget to block and report the number depending on what you want to do. You can download the Hiya app to have Samsung Smart Call on any Android device, but there are other alternatives like Truecaller, Mr. Number, and Should I Answer? While these are free, there are other alternatives like A&T ActiveArmor, T-Mobile Scam Shield, or Verizon Call Filter.