How To Stop Robocalls: T-Mobile Introduces New Features To Block Scam Callers

On Friday, T-Mobile introduced two new features designed to help its customers avoid calls from scammers and automated systems by marking incoming calls with a warning.

The new features are Scam ID, which will automatically alert customers when an incoming call is believed to be a scam, and Scam Block, which allows the carrier to stop spam calls before they reach a customer’s phone.

Read: iPhone 7 Robocall Block: iOS 10 Supports Hiya Spam Protection

To make the scam protection work, T-Mobile will scan incoming calls made to numbers on its network and cross-references the number of the caller against a global database of known scam callers. According to T-Mobile, the analysis is done in a matter of milliseconds and the database is kept up-to-date in real-time.

If a call coming across the network is believed to be from a scammer, T-Mobile will tag the call via the Scam ID feature so the recipient will be alerted of the possible threat on their device’s caller ID.

Scam Block takes the precautions even further by blocking calls from believed scammers from even ringing their phone. The opt-in feature runs the same analysis as Scam ID, but users who choose to turn on Scam Block won’t even recieve the call. T-Mobile simply terminates it if it’s coming from a suspected scammer.

The new features are being enabled on a rolling basis, starting with subscribers of T-Mobile One, the company’s unlimited talk, text, and data plan. Starting April 5, all new T-Mobile One customers will automatically get the protections. T-Mobile postpaid customers can begin to enable the feature on April 5 as well.

To activate Scam ID, T-Mobile customers can dial #ONI# (#664#). Scam Block can be activated by dialing #ONB# (#662#). To turn Scam Block off, call #OFB# (#632#). To check the status of Scam Block to find if it’s been enabled or not, customers can dial #STS# (#787#).

Read: FCC Wants Carriers To Block Calls From Spoofed Caller ID Numbers

Scam calls, especially automated “robocalls” have increasingly become a burden for Americans. A 2016 report from the YouMail National Robocall Index estimated 2.3 billion robocalls were made in the U.S. just during the month of January—or about 51,523 calls made every minute.

The Federal Communications Commission recently began exploring options for stopping the influx of robocalls —the commission’s top complaint from consumers year in and year out—including giving carriers more options for stopping the calls.