Cool story. The point of this is blocking at the network level so you don't have to have your phone ringing for junk. You missed the point though.
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T-Mobile Rolls Out Tools to Help Customers Avoid Scam Phone Calls
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No, I got the point. I also caught the part that says calls may be blocked that aren't spam. Services like these usually aren't reliable.
But cool story
T-Mobile today announced the launch of two new anti-scam features designed to cut down on scam phone calls, Scam ID and Scam Block.
Scam ID, as the name suggests, alerts customers when an incoming call is coming from a phone number known to be associated with a scam. Scam Block goes one step further, automatically blocking any calls identified as scams by Scam ID.
Scam ID is powered by a global database that contains "tens of thousands" of known scammer numbers. T-Mobile updates the database in near real-time by analyzing every call that comes into its network with "behavioral heuristics" and "intelligent scam pattern detection." Every call is analyzed to identify and block scammers.
Both Scam ID and Scam Block are available on all devices on T-Mobile's network and will be included at no cost. The features are rolling out to customers starting today, and will be available to T-Mobile ONE customers first.
New T-Mobile ONE customers will automatically get Scam ID beginning on April 5, while other T-Mobile postpaid customers can enable the feature on that date by dialing #ONI# (#664#). To turn on Scam Block, customers can dial dial #ONB# (#662#).
T-Mobile warns that enabling Scam Block could potentially cause customers not to receive legitimate calls, so caution should be used before turning it on. Once enabled, it can be turned off by dialing #OFB# (#632#).
Article Link: T-Mobile Rolls Out Tools to Help Customers Avoid Scam Phone Calls
Great, ATT and Tmobile now have nice tools to combat robo callers. WTF did I choose Verizon for?!!?
The BEST defense against spam calls is to ignore ALL calls that have no caller ID and are not in my contacts.
If anything important is being transmitted, a voice mail can be recorded.
However - one call (Private Number) recently was the voice mail telling me my Microsoft license had expired and I should call an 800 number. Hahahahaha!!!
If anything important is being transmitted, a voice mail can be recorded.
However - one call (Private Number) recently was the voice mail telling me my Microsoft license had expired and I should call an 800 number. Hahahahaha!!!
Yeah, nomorobo is great for my landline, and thanks for letting me know that it's available now for the iPhone. When I first signed up, I was a little disappointed that I couldn't use it with my iPhone. Not that I get nearly as many spam calls on my iPhone (it was several a day for my landline vs. 1 or 2 a week for the iPhone).
I have been getting more and more unsolicited calls. They aren't all necessarily scams. My greater fear is older friends and relatives who are more easily tricked. But I do wonder how this goes on. We have a government that tracks every single communication we make. If they wanted to stop this they easily could.
Most block apps on iPhone (using call kit) have a whitelist feature or at least whitelist against your contacts. T-Mobile really should have a tool facilitate this. Maybe with enough requests, they'll add one.
I'm using nomorobo and hiya, and they catch most scam calls. But Nomorobo can take up to an hour to flag catch a new robo and some get through (they're retroactively identified within the hour.) It'll be nice if T-Mobile's is a little faster. Considering they're the telco, they should have the data to make this happen.
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Have them install Hiya. It does a good job of identifying a lot of them and it's free.
I use Nomorobo and hiya (hiya is the backup to nomorobo/secondary priority identifier) but nomorobo has a subscription cost. Hiya is almost as good for free.
Was not aware of this cool feature on AT&T. Signed up for the Call Protect and downloaded the app. I don't get many spam calls but I get enough that I don't like it. Even being on the do not call registry. Most are for car warranty or home loan refinancing. I don't own a home. Lol
I looked at all the other apps available on the app store and they seem to be hit or miss. This would be a really cool thing for MacRumors to do an article on.
I looked at all the other apps available on the app store and they seem to be hit or miss. This would be a really cool thing for MacRumors to do an article on.
For T-Mobile shouldn't be too hard to detect spoofed calls. This is going to be a valuable service for their subscribers.
It may not be a 100% solution, but it will be useful still.
It may not be a 100% solution, but it will be useful still.
Yeah, that was the biggest hassle with that was having to add callers to the group. I used it to create a list of people who could call and wake me up (I leave my phone on all the time, and had a profile that I'd use when sleeping and the phone would only ring for them). If I added a new number to my phonebook sometimes I would forget to add them to the group until later.
Settings -> Do Not Disturb -> Allow Calls From {All Contacts, other group you create}
Coverage. You'll only appreciate it when you no longer have for Verizon
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AT&T has had this for a while.
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DND silences more than phone calls.
Nice to see a carried get behind this. I'm with Verizon. Installed the Hiya app on my iPhone and its seems to be pretty useless.
For what it worth the ATT call protect has been quite good. On average it blocks fraud or informs me that the caller is a telemarketer about once a day. Over the few months that it has been available it has already gotten a lot better. At this point it is about perfect on its success rate.
One thing I miss about iOS being instantly able to block spam calls. Sure, Should I Answer is a good app and works well, but it's an app. It should be built into Android.
That said, I appreciate that T-Mobile is attempting to protect their customers (and ultimately their profits) by doing something like this.
That said, I appreciate that T-Mobile is attempting to protect their customers (and ultimately their profits) by doing something like this.
I was surprised yesterday while driving to get a call on my Att line and it showed Telemarketer and the phone number on the screen. The number was flagged by other users. It was very helpful. I use the app for 3 weeks and it really works. IMHO it is better than Nomorobo.
The only disadvantage, you have to open unique username and password for each line on family plan.
Exactly. I tried tmo yet again and each time it's better but still not ready for damn prime time sorry. Att Verizon just know how to do this better. Tmo billing is a mess. They offer you a free line then 3 months later they say I was too late even though the rep offered it, I can go on. Their app blows and most importantly call reception is way off from the other 2 still.
I'm sure they're hastily coming up with something as I type this. They may be first in reliability (barely in some places), first in gouging their customers, but anything but first when it comes to everything else.
How ironic is that. I can only imagine the look on somebody's face when they look at their iPhone ringing, realizing it's their own phone number.
Unfortunately, as most businesses move to VoIP based phones, even the caller ID becomes temperamental.
Where I work right now, for example? We occasionally receive complaints that "Caller ID isn't coming through" when people make outbound calls. When we try to follow up and troubleshoot it, there's never any rhyme or reason. Seems to have to do with call routing problems and SIP trunk providers upstream that may have temporary problems.
Caller ID really meant a lot more in the world of land-line phones, where it was statically assigned by the phone company. VoIP technology gives more control over affecting it to the originator of calls - to the point where today, it's really just a "tag" that MAY help you identify who is calling for convenience.
Where I work right now, for example? We occasionally receive complaints that "Caller ID isn't coming through" when people make outbound calls. When we try to follow up and troubleshoot it, there's never any rhyme or reason. Seems to have to do with call routing problems and SIP trunk providers upstream that may have temporary problems.
Caller ID really meant a lot more in the world of land-line phones, where it was statically assigned by the phone company. VoIP technology gives more control over affecting it to the originator of calls - to the point where today, it's really just a "tag" that MAY help you identify who is calling for convenience.
If you only get a few spam calls here and there I'd go your route. But if you've ever had your identity stolen or your personal info compromised like I have and were getting 5-10 spam calls a day at all hours, you'd prolly jump on this.No, I got the point. I also caught the part that says calls may be blocked that aren't spam. Services like these usually aren't reliable.
But cool story