---
name: screen-spam-calls-trust-ladder
description: "Screen spam calls with a trust ladder. Climb one rung at a time: save the numbers you need, turn on the spam filter, filter unknown callers into a list, then try Ask Reason for Calling. The list filter only sorts missed calls and voicemails. Silence sends unsaved numbers to voicemail, so use it last. The FTC says call blocking might block calls you want. Use when the user asks for help with this job."
---

# Screen spam calls with a trust ladder

## When to use

iPhone users who get spam calls every day and worry that silencing unknown callers will hide real ones. Other phones have similar settings, which the FTC points you to. Do not paste contacts or private numbers into a chatbot.

## Steps

1. Write a list of who you need to reach: family, school, doctor's office. Add those numbers to Contacts. Apple says that for numbers in Contacts, you always see these calls. Unsaved numbers, such as a delivery driver, count as unknown callers.
2. Turn on the spam filter: Settings, Apps, Phone, then Call Filtering. Apple says spam callers are silenced and listed under Spam.
3. Turn on Unknown Callers filtering in the same place. Apple says missed calls and voicemails from unknown numbers move to an Unknown Callers list. This is a list filter, separate from screening and silencing. Look at the list each week and save any number that is real.
4. Try Screen Unknown Callers, Ask Reason for Calling. Apple says the caller is asked why they are calling before your phone rings. Apple also says screening is not applied while roaming, and before iOS 17 Live Voicemail has to be on. Use it for a week.
5. Only if spam is still heavy, set Screen Unknown Callers to Silence. Apple says calls from unsaved numbers are silenced and sent to voicemail, so check voicemail and the Recents list daily at first. Report scam calls at DoNotCall.gov, or at ReportFraud.ftc.gov if you lost money, as the FTC suggests.

## Prompt

Fill the [BRACKETED] parts with the user, then follow this prompt:

```
Help me cut spam calls on my iPhone without missing real calls. Plan the steps in this order: 1) save must-reach numbers in Contacts, 2) spam filter, 3) filter unknown callers into a list, 4) Ask Reason for Calling, 5) Silence last.

My situation: [how many spam calls a day, and which real calls come from numbers I have not saved, such as doctor, school, delivery]

1. List the types of numbers I should save in Contacts before I change any setting. Do not ask me for the numbers themselves.
2. Give me a one-week check-in list for each rung: what to look at, and what would tell me to move up or stay.
3. Tell me which rung to start on given my situation, and what I might miss at each rung.

Use short steps. Show me the plan first. Do not change anything for me. I make each change in Settings myself.
```

## Guardrails

- Draft first and show the user. Never send, post, pay, book, cancel or delete without the user's explicit approval of that exact action.
- Use only facts the user gives you or that you can cite. If something is missing, ask instead of guessing.

## Common snags

- Going straight to Silence. Apple says it sends unsaved numbers to voicemail, so real calls from unsaved numbers can be missed.
- Skipping the contacts step. Apple says you always see calls from saved numbers, which is why the doctor and school come first. Unsaved numbers, including a delivery driver, can be silenced.
- Expecting the filter to catch every call. The FTC says no tool blocks all unwanted calls.

## Source

https://www.aisetupsthatwork.com/setups/screen-spam-calls-trust-ladder/ (AI Setups That Work)