My phone is auto-answering spam calls. Please help!

October 15, 2018 4:42 PM

I got a new Pixel 2 this summer (Android 9), and have TrueCaller installed to block spam. I set both the native phone settings and/or TrueCaller to block calls from my area code, which is where a) I no longer live, and b) most of my spam calls come from. Somehow, the phone now answers up those (and only those!) calls on its own. I know I need to not answer those calls, but how?

Things google tells me are relevant:
I do not use a Bluetooth device for the phone, only for media in my car.

Native phone settings have:
Blocked numbers: 1-234-567*, 234-567* (I used to live in 234-567)
CallerID & Spam -> on.
Filter spam calls -> on.

True Caller settings:
My block list (88 numbers including "Numbers that start with 234-567 and 1-234-567)
Block top spammers -> on
Block hidden numbers -> off
How to block calls -> reject automatically.

Most spam calls go straight to voicemail. But the phone, untouched on my desk, automatically answers calls from 1-234-567. I know "best spam practices" are to not answer spam calls. What hidden setting am I missing?

Yes, I am on the Do Not Call list, and report calls semi-regularly. Suggestions for better blocking apps are appreciated. Suggestions for a text spam blocker that allows me to pattern match (ie on key words) will get extra donations to Metafilter. I had one for a while, but it stopped working :( It's so frustrating that I am buried in spam despite all of the above.

Thank you!

posted by Dashy to Technology (4 answers total)

My first instinct is that you've picked up a malware app somewhere and your phone is compromised. If I found myself in that situation, my kneejerk reaction would be to factory reset the phone and start fresh. However, that's the sledgehammer approach, and there may be a way to fix this without resorting to that.

What you could do is go through the permissions of all your apps, find everything that has phone permissions, and revoke them. Including TrueCaller. One at a time, give each app their phone permissions back, in order of priority, and wait until you get another call from the offending number and what happens when you do. When it starts showing the undesired symptoms again, you know which app is the culprit.
posted by radwolf76 at 4:22 AM on October 16, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks. Going through permissions led me to an app called CallControl that I'd probably installed to try its blocking ability, but forgotten, so I've uninstalled that, and took phone permission away from a few other things. Crossing my fingers.
posted by Dashy at 8:02 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]

Can you explain 'auto answering" ? Are you saying you don't touch your phone and it behaves as if you swiped green to answer when those calls come in?
posted by dobbs at 10:41 AM on October 17, 2018

Response by poster: Yes: I don't touch the phone, but the phone picks up when a 234-567 number calls, as if I'd swiped on 'answer', and I can hear someone talking.

After changes noted above, a call from 234-567 was successfully blocked (and not auto-answered) yesterday, so that's progress.

On another note, I'm now trying 'Key Messages' (aka "SMS, Block text, Spam blocker, Backup restore") which has a pattern match blocker for text spam.
posted by Dashy at 11:43 AM on October 17, 2018