T-Mobile on Friday became the latest wireless carrier to step up their anti-scam efforts with the introduction of Scam ID and Scam Block.
Scam ID, as the name suggests, is like a caller ID geared specifically toward scammers as it automatically alerts callers when an incoming call is likely a scam. Scam Block takes things a step further by blocking suspected scam calls before they're delivered to a customer's phone.
Whenever someone calls a T-Mobile customer, the company's "patent-pending technology" analyzes it in milliseconds and compares it against a global database of known scammer numbers. T-Mobile says the database is updated in real-time using behavioral heuristics and intelligent scam pattern detection.
When a match is found, it triggers a red flag and thus, is either blocked entirely or the recipient is notified with Scam ID.
T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray notes that three out of four people in the US get at least one scam call every year, cheating consumers out of more than half a billion dollars annually.
AT&T late last year launched what appears to be a nearly identical tool in AT&T Call Protect which includes automatic fraud blocking and screened calls that let you know if an incoming call might be from a scammer.
T-Mobile is enabling Scam ID and Scam Block on a rolling basis beginning with T-Mobile One customers (new customers will get Scam ID automatically beginning April 5). Postpaid customers can also enable Scam ID beginning April 5 by dialing #ONI# (#664#) and pressing the call button in their phone's dialer. To enable Scam Block, simply dial #ONB# (#662#); to turn it off, dial #OFB# (#632#). To determine whether Scam Block is enabled or not, dial #STS# (#787#).