Unknown numbers and spam on Telegram: how to block them quickly

Despite its Russian roots, Telegram is the most popular social network in Ukraine. According to the 2024 USAID/Internews Media Consumption Survey of Ukrainians, Telegram still holds the top spot for both communication and news consumption. Only 4% of respondents believe that Telegram should be banned in Ukraine. A more popular opinion is that the state should establish rules and control the messenger. Still, 51% believe that the state should not interfere in its work. At the same time, in a September KIIS poll, 54% of respondents were in favor of the state controlling and restricting Telegram. If it is banned or restricted, 52% of Ukrainians will look for new news sources, and 31% will look for ways to circumvent the ban. 23% will look for their favorite bloggers on other social networks.

Meanwhile, hostile Russian Telegram recruiters and bots are recruiting Ukrainians for sabotage. According to an investigation by Radio Liberty, Russian special services are massively using underage Ukrainians to set fire to vehicles of the Armed Forces and buildings of the military and civilian recruitment centers as part of a disinformation campaign aimed at showing that there is an underground in Ukraine that is allegedly opposed to mobilization. The journalists found that Ukrainian children are being recruited through a network of interconnected bots and Telegram channels offering “quick money” for arson.

So we decided to create a small guide that will help you quickly block unknown numbers and spam messages on Telegram, as well as protect you from unwanted communication.

How to block a person or bot on Telegram

You can block any user on Telegram. This can be your existing contact, any stranger, or a bot that sends spam emails. This can be done equally easily in Telegram on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux, and in the web version of the messenger.

If a user you no longer want to communicate with is in your contact list, you can send them to the blacklist. You don’t even need to delete them from the messenger’s contact book. Everything is quite easy, simple, and can be done in two clicks.

To block an existing contact, do the following:

▪️open the messenger settings (in the iOS app, the icon is in the lower right corner, in the Android app, in the upper left corner); then find the Contacts button; go to the contact list and find the person you want to block; click on their profile in the list;

▪️this will open a chat with this person (even if you haven’t messaged them yet); click on the user’s name or photo, which will appear at the top of the screen; this will open their profile, where you will perform the necessary actions;

▪️after visiting this person’s page, you need to click on the three dots in the upper right corner; after clicking, a context menu will open; it will contain the “Block” button; click on it and confirm the action;

▪️after that, the person or bot will be blocked; you will not receive messages and calls from this person, and they will no longer be able to find out when you were last online and will not see your avatar; it is worth remembering that you have banned a person only in the Telegram messenger; they can still call and write to you using mobile communication.

How to block a person who is not in your contact list:

▪️if you haven’t chatted with the user yet, enter their username in the search; find the account and open a chat by clicking on the profile;

▪️if there is a correspondence, you just need to go to the chat and click on the user’s name or photo in the top panel of the chat with this person; after that, the user’s profile will open, as in the previous instruction; click on the three dots in the upper right part of the screen;

▪️again, the context menu will open, in which there will be the familiar “Block” button; click on this button and confirm the action if you are sure that you do not want this person to write to you;

▪️if you don’t know the user’s login and only have their phone number, you’ll have to add them to your Telegram contacts list;

▪️after that, you need to follow the steps from the previous part of the article (the messenger does not allow you to ban random numbers it thinks are random; therefore, if you really want to block a person as a preventive measure, you will have to first add them to the Telegram contact list).

There is another easy way to block a spam bot or a user you don’t want to communicate with. To do this, open a sequence in Telegram:

▪️ Settings → Privacy and Security → Blocked Users (the so-called blacklist);

▪️then click the Block button, select the person from the list of dialogs or contacts, and confirm the action.

Similarly, in the “Blocked users” section, you can unblock a person’s account if necessary. To do this, simply click on the ellipsis and then on the pop-up inscription “Unblock“.

How to protect yourself from unwanted contacts on Telegram

To minimize unwanted contacts, you need to set up privacy in the messenger accordingly. To do this:

▪️go to Settings → Privacy and security;

▪️click on the inscription “Phone number”;

▪️in the “Who can see my phone number? ” section, select “No one”; and in the “Who can find me by phone number? ” section, select “My contacts”.

This way, you will limit the ability of third-party subscribers who are not in your contacts to find you on Telegram and send you messages.

Telegram also has an option to get rid of unwanted contacts and newsletters using archiving. You can make sure that messages from unknown users are automatically archived. You won’t even notice the moment you receive a message from a stranger. If you wish, you can manually check who wrote to you later.

To activate this feature, do the following:

▪️go to Settings → Privacy and Security;

▪️scroll down to the inscription “New chats from unknown users”;

▪️turn on the “Archive and turn off notifications” feature .

Now messages from strangers will be received silently, archived immediately, and won’t disturb you.

How do you know if someone has blocked you? It’s simple. To do this, go to the chat with the person you want and try to open the profile photo. If nothing happens and the person’s status shows that they have been online for a long time, it means that you have been banned.

Having protected yourself from unwanted contacts on Telegram by adjusting the settings, you should still keep in mind that fraudsters often use popular messengers to lure out personal information.

According to various sources, the most common fraudulent schemes on Telegram are romantic (love) scams, fake technical support agents, “friend in need” fraud, phishing attacks, investment scams and pyramid schemes, fake surveys, non-existent vacancies, malicious links and files, fictitious prize and gift giveaways, pseudo-Telegram administrators, advertising fraud, fraudulent clones (creating fake accounts), cryptocurrency fraud, and fraud with Telegram bots. Therefore, it is important to always be attentive and vigilant to avoid getting into a terrible mess.