A nuisance call is a general term for any phone call the recipient does not want. This includes persistent sales calls, solicitation calls, silent calls, one-ring scams, bank transfer fraud, robocalls, and many other types. According to surveys by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, approximately 60% of landline phone users have experienced nuisance calls, with hundreds of thousands of complaints filed annually.
Nuisance calls are also regulated by law. The Specified Commercial Transactions Act requires telemarketers to clearly state their business name and purpose of solicitation, making unnamed sales calls a legal violation in themselves. Furthermore, re-solicitation after a consumer has declined is explicitly prohibited, and violating businesses face administrative penalties including business suspension orders. The Anti-Stalking Act prohibits repetitive phone calls to a specific person as a form of stalking.
Countermeasures differ depending on the type of nuisance call. For sales and solicitation calls, clearly state "I'm not interested" and if they persist, use the do-not-call system. For phone scams, never engage and consult the police (#9110). For silent calls and phone harassment, preserve evidence with call recording and consult the police.
Technical countermeasures are most effective when implemented in stages. First, use call blocking to block known nuisance numbers. Second, install a spam call filter app (such as Whoscall or Denwa-cho Navi) to automatically identify unknown nuisance numbers by cross-referencing databases. Third, enable Number Display to reject anonymous calls. If these measures are insufficient, consult the consumer affairs center (dial 188) following the nuisance call reporting guide. You can also review specific setup procedures in how to block nuisance calls.