Stopping nuisance calls and scam mail

Unwanted sales calls and junk post are two different problems with two different registers. The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is a free register of people who have said they do not want marketing calls, and you can put a landline or a mobile number on it¹. The Mailing Preference Service does the same job for direct marketing mail addressed to you by name².

Neither register stops a criminal. The TPS stops legitimate companies making unsolicited sales and marketing calls, so what is left after you register is largely the calls that were never going to obey the rules³. The Mailing Preference Service will stop many direct mailing companies contacting you, but it does not cover unaddressed leaflets pushed through the door⁴.

The rest of this page sets out what each register does, how to use your phone and your letterbox to cut the volume further, where the registers run out, how to report what is left, and what to do if you have already given a caller your details.

What counts as a nuisance call or scam mail

A nuisance call is unwanted marketing: a live caller or a recorded voice trying to sell you something. The ICO handles predatory, nuisance marketing calls, and it takes reports of cold calls from either a recorded voice or a real person¹. Silent and abandoned calls, where you pick up and hear nothing, are a separate category and complaints about them go to Ofcom¹.

Scam mail is post that is trying to take your money or your details rather than sell you something legitimate. The warning signs are the same across post, calls, texts and email: inaccurate spelling and wording, a sense of urgency to act quickly, being asked for bank details or passwords and told not to tell anyone, and an unfamiliar email address⁹. A generic greeting such as "Dear Customer" rather than your name is also a feature of many scams¹⁰.

If you are watching for this in someone else, the signs cluster. A noticeably large amount of junk mail, an unusual number of phone calls or visits from strangers, a sudden lack of money, secretiveness about money, lots of goods being delivered that they do not seem to need, and unnecessary work being done to a house are all things to look out for¹¹.

Dodgy messages arrive in several forms: emails (phishing), texts (smishing), phone calls and voicemails (vishing), and QR code phishing (quishing)¹².

Telephone Preference Service: opting out of sales calls

The TPS is a register of people who have said they do not want to receive marketing calls¹. It is a free service that lets you opt out of marketing calls, and you can register a landline or a mobile number free of charge¹. There is also a service to stop cold calls to mobile phones, and you can register by texting "TPS" and your email address to 85095¹³.

What it does is specific. It will stop legitimate companies from making unsolicited sales and marketing calls to your phone number³. It also prevents marketing calls from business development firms, charities, voluntary organisations and political parties¹⁴. If you want to stop a charity contacting you specifically, the Fundraising Preference Service lets you stop post, email, telephone or text messages from a selected charity or charities².

For landlines, talk to your phone provider about call blocking; both Apple and Android phones let you block calls on a mobile¹⁵. Some providers offer their own tools: BT Call Protect, for example, is a free service that sends nuisance and unwanted calls to junk voicemail¹⁶.

Mailing Preference Service and other ways to cut junk mail

The Mailing Preference Service is a free service set up by the direct marketing industry that aims to reduce the amount of junk mail you receive⁵. Registering stops direct marketing mail addressed to you, and will stop many of the direct mailing companies from contacting you². It is for consumers who want their name taken off direct mailing lists¹⁷, and it limits the amount of unwanted mail you receive¹⁸.

Two things sit outside it. Unaddressed leaflets are not covered, so a "no junk mail" sign on your door is the step the guidance suggests¹⁹. And the electoral register has its own opt-out: ticking the box to opt out of the edited register, also known as the open register, matters because it can be used to send unsolicited marketing mail⁴.

There is also a legal right behind all of this. You have the right to object to organisations using your personal information for sending advertising or marketing via any form of communication targeted at you specifically, and organisations cannot refuse if you object to direct marketing by email, post and calls aimed at you²⁰.

If you receive scam mail such as fake lotteries, bogus health cures, investment scams or pyramid schemes, a postal redirect service is one option²¹.

Where registering does not stop the contact

The TPS may not stop overseas calls²². That is the central limit: the register binds companies that follow UK marketing rules, and a criminal operation calling from anywhere in the world is not one of them.

The same applies to post. The Mailing Preference Service reduces addressed marketing mail from legitimate senders; it does not stop a fraudster posting a fake prize notification to your address.

Some contact is not marketing at all and is not covered. A registered contact for a mortgage application, for example, will not have those details used for marketing purposes, only where the firm is unable to contact the applicant¹⁶. That is a service contact, not a sales one.

Fraudsters also impersonate registers and official bodies to extract money. Companies House has warned that requests for money to maintain a company on a register are not a real fee and that it is not connected to any of these organisations; the fake notifications have come from names including New Companies Register, Digital Companies Register, National Register of Companies, Economic Index for Europe, Register of Companies and Businesses, Scottish Commercial Register, Welsh Commercial Register, e-public.co.uk Company Register and regist.co.uk²³.

How to report nuisance calls and scam mail

Reporting is split by what happened.

1. Nuisance marketing calls and spam texts: report them to the ICO, which handles cold calls from a recorded voice or a real person⁷.
2. Silent or abandoned calls: complain to Ofcom¹.
3. Scam texts: forward the message to 7726, a free reporting service provided by phone operators, so your mobile provider can flag potential scams⁶.
4. Non-urgent crime: call your local police on 101⁸.
5. Suspicious calls about a payment: you can call 159 to check whether you are being targeted by scammers²⁶.

Do not reply to a scam text, call the number it came from, or click its links. Doing so only lets scammers know your number is in use and may lead to more scam messages and calls, and the number has likely been spoofed, so you may be messaging an innocent person whose number was stolen⁶.

If someone claiming to be from your bank, the Payment Systems Regulator or another financial regulator like the FCA contacts you out of the blue, hang up and contact the organisation directly using publicly listed contact details, do not be pressured into sending money, and end the interaction²⁷.

Protecting your money if you have already responded

If you think you are being scammed, stop making payments to the person or company, and cancel the Direct Debit with your bank if applicable²⁸.

If you have given your payment details or money to a scammer, contact your bank or payment provider as soon as possible and explain what has happened²⁹. If the scammer has recently called you, use a different phone line to call your bank, or wait at least 15 minutes, because research has found that scammers can keep the line open to listen in to your call³⁰. The same caution applies generally: wait at least 15 minutes before calling back an organisation you are unsure about, or use another phone³¹.

A few practical habits reduce the damage. Block unwanted calls and filter unwanted text messages³⁵. If your phone suddenly stops letting you make calls or send texts, contact your provider on a number you trust right away, and hang up on calls asking for a code, delete such texts, and never give anyone a code³⁶. If you are asked to make a payment by email, even one you are expecting, making a small payment first and then contacting the intended recipient to confirm they got it before transferring the rest can help protect your money³⁷. And never click the links or phone numbers in messages claiming a digital wallet has been suspended; problems with your digital wallet can usually be resolved in your phone settings³⁸.

If you do not want any phone calls from a creditor, you can ask them to remove your number from their records³⁹. If a bank refuses a refund after a scam, there is a complaints route, and the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at it⁴⁰. Free, impartial help is available from MoneyHelper³².