One customer said they were enticed into taking a loan after a representative made an unsolicited call with an envelope containing £100 in cash.

If consumers receive an unsolicited call 'from their bank', they should hang up, wait five minutes and then call their bank, preferably from another line.

The report found that one in five people received an unsolicited call every day.

More than half of those quizzed had received an unsolicited call in the past year but 12 per cent got at least one a day.

He kept recording equipment near his telephone, and upon receiving an unsolicited call would engage the telemarketer in an unexpected and often uncomfortable conversation while recording the incident.

But when we write an unsolicited letter to a stranger, we should be grateful to receive a reply.

But aren't unsolicited letters arguably creepier?

Each individual, it estimates, receives 617 unsolicited letters a year; 37,000 items in a lifetime.

If he sent an unsolicited message to another team manager, that became a bargaining tool for negotiation.

Do not open emails from someone you do not recognise and never click on links sent to you as part of an unsolicited message.

Unsolicited messages are a massive and growing problem.

Each such unsolicited message received without permission entitles the recipient to take the sender to small claims court and collect a minimum of $1 for each violation.

They are also blocked from receiving unsolicited messages.