Whatsapp: How to block spammers, unknown contacts

With today’s global realm of messaging, the joy of connecting with loved ones or colleagues from both near and far can quickly morph into a nightmare – with relentless spammers infiltrating every corner.

But fear not, with Whatsapp, you hold the power.

Block unwanted messages, calls, and status updates. Report nefarious activity.

And remember, if you feel that danger looms for you or anyone else you know, it is best to reach out to your local emergency services.

Yes, you can stop receiving messages, calls, and status updates from certain contacts – by simply blocking them. You can also report them if you think they are sending problematic content or spam.

Here’s how:

Note:

If you change your phone number and use the same WhatsApp account, your blocked contacts will stay blocked. If you set up a new WhatsApp account, you’ll need to manually block those contacts again.

Open the WhatsApp chat with the unknown phone number.

Note:

Blocked contacts will no longer be able to call you or send you messages. Your last seen, online, status updates, and any changes made to your profile photo will no longer be visible to contacts you've blocked.

Blocking a contact won't remove them from your contacts list, nor will it remove you from the list on the contact's phone. To delete a contact, you must delete the contact from your phone's address book.

Note: If you unblock a contact, you won't receive any messages, calls, or status updates the contact sent you during the time they were blocked. If you unblock a contact or phone number that wasn't previously saved in your phone’s address book, you won't be able to restore that contact or phone number to your device.

[1] Open the chat with the contact you want to report.

[2] Tap More options

[3] > More > Report. Check the box if you would like to also block the user and delete messages in the chat.

[4] Tap Report.

Note: WhatsApp receives the last five messages sent to you by the reported user or group, and they won’t be notified. WhatsApp also receives the reported group or user ID, information on when the message was sent, and the type of message sent (image, video, text, etc.).

You can also report an account by long pressing a single message.

[1] Open the view once photo or video.

[2] Tap More options

[3] > Report contact.

On Android and iOS:

Source: Whatsapp FAQs