Citizens Advice Scotland is joining forces with consumer group Which? to launch a campaign to urge Scots to protect themselves from nuisance phone calls, and to fight back by reporting them.
Research from Which? shows that Scots receive more nuisance calls than any other part of Europe, and that nine out of 10 Scottish households received an unwanted call within a one month period.
Susan McPhee, head of policy for Citizens Advice Scotland, said: “Nuisance calls are far too common today, and affect huge numbers of people in Scotland. One of our roles in the CAB network is to safeguard peoples’ rights as consumers, and one of those rights is that you don’t need to put up with phone calls that you don’t want.”
Nuisance calls include any kind of unwanted sales or marketing call. People find these irritating or even distressing.
The campaign message is there are simple actions you can take to cut the number of calls considerably, and even stop them altogether.
How to stop nuisance calls
- Register with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). This is a free service to opt out of receiving unsolicited sales or marketing calls. You can register a landline or mobile number at www.tpsonline.org.uk or call 0345 070 0707. Mobile users can register by texting TPS and their email address to 85095.
- Report nuisance calls using the Which? Complaint Tool
- Talk to your phone company – your provider may have a service that can help to reduce nuisance calls
- Report spam text messages – if you get a text from an unknown company send it to your network operator by forwarding the message to 7726
- Remember to opt out of receiving calls – whenever you’re asked to provide your contact details online, make sure you tick the opt out boxes for marketing calls
- Go ex-directory – this makes it harder for businesses to obtain your phone number
- Consider a call blocking device – you can buy a device to attach to your phone, or get a phone with one built in. Which? has done product reviews on some.
To coincide with the campaign, the Scottish Government announced a £50,000 fund to install call-blocking technology for those most at risk from nuisance calls.
Economy secretary Keith Brown said the fund is one element of a national Nuisance Calls Action Plan, launched to raise awareness and empower people to protect themselves from scam callers.
The action plan was unveiled tat the launch of the Which? Nuisance Call Roadshow at Glasgow Central Station.
This will be visiting Glasgow and Aberdeen over the coming week to invite members of the public to pledge support for a campaign to stop nuisance calls.
Brown has also written to the UK government urging greater action to reduce the volume of nuisance calls.
He said: “Nuisance calls disproportionately affect people in Scotland. They often target the elderly and the vulnerable and have the potential to be very harmful.
“Although there is no easy solution to this problem, our action plan contains a range of measures to raise awareness of nuisance calls, make it easier for people to identify them and take action to protect themselves. Our fund to install call-blocking technology for our most vulnerable citizens is one such measure.”
Alex Neill, Which? managing director of home products and services, said: "Which? has long campaigned for action to be taken against this everyday menace that can intimidate and discourage people from answering their phones. We're delighted to be part of the week of action on this issue to help people tackle these unwanted calls."
