There has been a surge in hacking, scam calls and scam texts in Ireland in the last six months. This week, operators such as Vodafone are warning about the ‘Flubot’ viral text (which, so far, only affects Android phones). Gardai continue to warn about scam calls from a variety of phone numbers purporting to be from the Revenue or the Department Social Protection.

Is there anything you can do to defend your phone? Here are some suggestions.

1. Helpful apps

There are some apps for both iPhone and Android that block known scam or spam numbers. Truecaller (free with in-app purchases on both iOS and Android) is a good example. It leverages a database of known scam numbers to immediately block or mute calls and texts coming in.

This isn’t foolproof; scammers ‘spoof’ other numbers regularly, making it look like the call is coming from an established phone number. (This is a particular problem for 083 numbers at present.)

But it can significantly improve your chances of tackling scam calls.

2. Use your phone’s settings more

Both iPhones and Android phones have some settings that can help to mitigate scam or spam calls. In the iPhone’s settings, go to ‘phone’ and then ‘silence unknown callers’. Turning this on sends calls that aren’t in your contacts (or recognised from outgoing calls you’ve previously made or from Siri suggestions) straight through to your voicemail, so that you’re not suckered by calls that attempt to connect you to a scammer.

Similarly, most Android phones’ settings allow you to turn on a filter that blocks suspicious calls. Go to ‘settings’ and then ‘caller ID & spam’. Flick that on. You won't get missed call or voicemail notifications, but you'll still see filtered calls in your call history and be able to check any voicemail you receive.

3. Don’t click on links from anyone, even close friends

By now, most of us have learned to become a little suspicious of emails that have bad spelling, bad punctuation or seem to come from a domain name that doesn’t quite sound right. But scammers are sneakier on phone systems because they can do things like get inside existing text threads you may already have with, for example, your bank. (This is called ‘smishing’ and has been a problem in Ireland for a while.) One rule of thumb is simply to avoid clicking on links in any text message.