trueCall - bust or scam?

SmashnGrab

My elderly mother has recently started receiving scam calls again and someone mentioned a call blocker called trueCall. It seems that these units are for sale on Amazon for well over £100 which seems excessive, and have also featured on here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6059378/the-nts-scams-team-is-supplying-the-truecall-secure-call-blocker-unit-free

However, digging further it seems that the trueCall company has stopped responding to customers sometime in 2025, no longer replying to e-mails, social media posts or answering the phone. As a result, ratings have nosedived. This begs the question of whether they have gone bust? The fact that units can still be purchased on Amazon seems to suggest otherwise, but since they are no longer communicating with customers, this does seem to have the hallmarks of a scam? Especially so when I see reports of units automatically calling out numbers in the middle of the night. For what purpose? The units also do not seem to work with some broadband/VOIP providers which some users seem to have discovered by trial and error.

Also, is there a relationship between trueCall and trueCaller? Both names have the same lower case initial letter format.

I think such a scam busting device would be useful, but how can I trust it when the company selling it seems to be exhibiting a number of red flags and behaving like a scammer?

J63320

According to Companies House, trueCall appears to be trading and up-to-date with its returns. trueCaller is a Chinese company.

My trueCall box was brilliant - it cut the cold calls getting through from daily to one every couple of months, and on the odd occasion that I had a problem (to do with the memory card for recording calls, not the basic functionality) they were very helpful, so it’s disappointing that this has changed.

When I needed to replace my cordless phone I bought a BT one with trueCall technology built-in, and I find it better than the separate box, because the ‘deterred’ calls - where callers have abandoned the call rather than give their name - appear on the calls list so you can check if anyone that you would have actually wanted to speak to has been put off. It’s also neater - fewer things to plug in and less wire to get tangled.

TadleyBaggie

TrueCall sent me a message this week about renewing my subscription, which I won't because I no longer have a landline since moving to full fibre. The blocker worked brilliantly.

savagelyric

My parents had a trueCall box provided by our local Trading Standards - it worked brilliantly initially however once their BT line was switched to digital, it seemed to start blocking all calls, even those on the 'approved' list. It would ring on the callers side but not ring on the receiving side.

We've had to uninstall it to allow necessary calls through, and they now get scam calls daily. I emailed trueCall to ask for advice but no response was ever received.

Jude57

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6674532/truecall-bust-or-scam

You can buy landline phones with call blocking capabilities. Mine (Panasonic) has can block individual numbers, ranges of numbers (say, all 0898 numbers), calls from abroad and more. It's cordless, has two handsets and an answering machine. I got it about 7 years ago in a sale and it was under £60 then. A quick search online for 'landline phone with call blocker' brings up forced and cordless options starting from under £40. I wouldn't be without mine now and haven't had a single scan call since I got it and set it up.

Here's an example which is cheap enough and looks easy to use, though I can't personally recommend it:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BT-Cordless-Answering-Machine-Functionality/dp/B01N2GQ3AN/ref=asc_df_B01N2GQ3AN?tag=bingshoppinga-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80676872671986&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=t&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=41474&hvtargid=pla-4584276335777056&psc=1&hvocijid=9245038194858681021-B01N2GQ3AN-&hvexpln=0

And this is the latest version of mine, even cheaper than mine was in the sale! I suppose that the technology gets cheaper over time:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-KX-TGC262-Digital-Cordless-Phones/dp/B0BG5TRH86/ref%3Dmp_s_a_1_12?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ekNNRd7N5ZWpGd-62EsRDfZcI1g6mllPBG1SM042DqH1uIDt92Bc6krcnP0OwXOz5YdEKv3iRM6DMKf9v6oLdfyI6yKD6B40ZLKzWyuhgIEhyTbRdj25fladeoQWKtqFQyM4ujtUSnT0MGDhTY7ZkKrccL6cqyGcJqMFFir19poth7Te9q5pAfxd18lXtt1McUBAWUianWfrqpnNFOXsNQ.-Mx1gQO54w0erPje3Fz0zz19VoCFQpZJq_tfZVVQQS8&dib_tag=se&keywords=Call+Blocking+Telephones&qid=1782903389&sr=8-12

Edited to add, no idea why those links aren't showing properly but if you copy and paste into your browser they do work.

pseudodox

Like @J63320 I have a BT phone with built in call blocker. In the 15 years since I bought it not a SINGLE scam caller has got through. If they don't say who they are the phone does not even ring my end so I don't get disturbed. And likewise it does record such numbers for me to check - I often check them on a website & see reports from other people - especially those who answer the calls. Can then just delete the number or if it tries more than once it gets blocked.

The system has continued to work after changeover to digital voice. BT8500 Advanced Call Blocker. Pure magic!

forgotmyname

We had the {TrueCall} little white box and the BT phones also with their own inbuilt blocking.

Scam and Spam calls dropped to virtually zero. With the BT landline phones and the white box it was the best
of both worlds and covered almost all bases. Spoofed numbers would show as International on one device and
the Truecall allowed me to block an entire area code that some company bought up north and sold to a scam group.

I cannot find the details on it now, AI says it's impossible but I know it happened. Tons of calls from one area code
which the box fixed.

We ditched the landline a couple of years back now though.