T-Mobile launched free scam protection services two years ago, and has now expanded its ‘Caller Verified’ feature to seven additional devices.
Caller Verified debuted in January and is T-Mobile’s implementation of the FCC-recommended STIR/SHAKEN standards to alert mobile users of and prevent against likely spam or scam calls.
The latest phones to get the feature include Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and S9+, and will soon roll out to the Galaxy S10e, S10, and S10+, along with the LG G8 ThinQ and LG Airsto3.
Tax season (now through April 15) is ripe with aggressive scams and number-spoofing known IRS numbers, according to T-Mobile. The feature uses network-level technology that prevents spoofed IRS calls before a customer gets them. Instead of an app, the carrier uses an in-line database that’s updated every six minutes on its network, together with advanced spoofing detection technology.
T-Mobile said that this year the operator has alerted customers of 225 million likely scam calls per week, and more than 10 billion in the two years since launching its spam protection service.
“Scam calls are an industry-wide problem, and it seems like we’re the only ones taking this threat seriously,” said John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile, in a statement. “The other guys make customers do the work to stay safe from scammers. If AT&T or Verizon customers want scam protection, they’ve gotta download an app, which only protects them as well as the last app update. We’re fighting scammers at the network level, and we update our defenses every 6 minutes, so T-Mobile customers are constantly protected – without having to do a single thing.”
Filed Under: Devices
