Blackpool 01253 area code one of North West's worst for nuisance and scam callers
A new study has revealed that Blackpool is one of the North West's most exploited areas by cold callers.
The resort’s 01253 area code was ranked as the seventh most targeted in the North West, with 42,379 nuisance calls reported.
Common themes behind unwanted calls included fraudsters impersonating Amazon, and internet providers such as BT. But banks were the most frequent institution scammers impersonated, with 587 out of 1,168 reports (50%) looked at mentioning matters relating to bank accounts.
Manchester took the top spot for the region with a total of 611,150 reports of nuisance phone numbers reported in its 0161 area code, making up 31.16% of the North West’s 1.96 million reports. Manchester also ranked second nationally, behind London.
Liverpool was the second most exploited by nuisance callers in the North West, with 439,605 reports filed against 0151 area code numbers. Liverpool numbers had 22.41% of the region’s reports and ranked fourth in the UK.
Preston (01772 area code) was sixth with 46,070 reports.
How to block spam calls
There are several options for blocking calls from unknown numbers. On iPhone, you can enable Silence Unknown Callers by going to Settings > Phone, scrolling down to Silence Unknown Callers, tapping the option, and turning on the feature.
This will block phone numbers that are not in your contacts list or that you have not contacted in some way previously from calling you. It is disabled for 24 hours after using an emergency call.
On Android, open the Phone App, tap the three dots in a vertical pattern for more options, tap Settings, and then turn on Caller ID and spam protection.
This uses a database of phone numbers to determine a caller's ID and filter out spam calls.
For landlines and mobiles, you can register your phone number with the Telephone Preference Service, the UK’s official Do Not Call list.
Once you have registered the desired numbers with the TPS, telemarketers and sales callers are legally required to not call those numbers.
Third-party apps can also help filter spam calls, and many options are available. Many landline handsets also offer call filtering.