T-Mobile initiates new merger with robocall killer

T-Mobile is cracking down on scams and spamming with a new free service called Scam Shield.

Scam Shield is the first Un-Carrier initiative taken by the company since its merger with former competitor Sprint, whose retail stores will officially begin operating under the T-Mobile brand across the country starting August 2.

“Now that Sprint is part of T-Mobile, we can face even bigger problems, which is why today we are taking on one of the biggest weaknesses in wireless technology: scams and unwanted automatic calls,” said Mike Sievert, CEO of T- Mobile. in a press release on Thursday. “Scam Shield has never been more necessary than it is now. Scammers see COVID-19 as an opportunity to take advantage of Americans at their most vulnerable point. When we saw that happen, we knew we had to take bold and swift action. With Scam Shield, T-Mobile customers receive fewer scam calls, period … and it’s all because of our advanced network. “

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Scam Shield will notify customers of suspicious calls by sending a “Scam Likely” alert. Customers can also enable scam blocking, which will prevent network-level calls so customers never see the notification.

The service also has an improved caller ID, which will verify if the call comes from a real person or company.

Scam Shield (Photo courtesy of T-Mobile)

In addition, Scam Shield offers T-Mobile PROXY, a second number that can be used to keep a customer’s regular number free from scams and unwanted calls at no additional cost, as well as a toll-free number change for any customer who becomes “spam” -magnet. “

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According to the announcement, features can be accessed through the Scam Shield app, which will be available to the entire T-Mobile brand, including Metro by T-Mobile and Sprint customers, beginning July 24.

Postpaid and Metro T-Mobile customers can download Scam Shield on the App Store or Google Play, and can currently use Scam Block by dialing # 662 #.

Sprint iOS customers can download the enhanced Call Screener app from the App Store, while Android customers simply open and enable the pre-installed app. In the app, Sprint customers can get their free scam ID and block, and activate free caller ID.

The company also offers a free Be ID Aware service, which provides 12-month ID monitoring and alerts from security software company McAfee. Customers can register between July 24 and August 31 for free at promotions.t-mobile.com or promo.metrobyt-mobile.com using their phone number and code 2020McAfee.

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Sievert says Scam Shield poses a challenge to competitors Verizon and AT&T, who he says are “taking advantage of consumer fears” by “charging to protect you from the scams and automatic calls their network brings you.”

“It’s wrong and it has to stop,” Sievert added.

The T-Mobile executive promised that his recently merged company “will continue to correct the mistakes of this industry”, challenging operators to “abandon their assets, stop profiting from fear and do the right thing, because everyone needs and deserves protection now, More than ever.”

Verizon Consumer Group CEO Ronan Dunne responded to Sievert’s complaint in a statement Thursday, saying the company “continues to lead the automated calling effort on behalf of our customers and the industry.”

“Our continued efforts have helped contribute to eight consecutive months of decline in unwanted automatic calls, and we will continue to lead the industry forward,” Dunne said.

Verizon added that its continued efforts, along with the pandemic, have led to a 30 percent decrease in unwanted calls in the past three months.

Currently, the company offers a free service called Call Filter, which filters incoming calls, reports numbers as spam, and blocks spam numbers by risk level. However, the company also has a premium version known as Call Filter Plus, which charges customers $ 2.99 per month per line for additional features including:

• See the caller’s name for unknown numbers
• Create your personalized block list so that calls from specific unwanted numbers are automatically forwarded to voicemail.
• Create a personalized spam list so you can receive alerts when specific numbers try to call you in the future.
• View the risk level of incoming calls, including possible spam, robocaller or fraud.
• Using “Spam Search” to search our spam database to see if a number has already been identified as spam.

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Meanwhile, AT&T currently offers a free service called Call Protect, which includes the following features:

• Automatic Fraud Blocker, which scans and blocks suspicious scam calls, whether automatic or not.
• Spam risk blocking, which Block calls or send them to voicemail if they are identified as “Spam Risk”.
• Unknown calls, which you send anyone who is not on your contact list directly to voicemail.
• Personal Block List, which creates a personalized block list for unwanted callers.
• Siri Shortcuts, which allows you to block and report unwanted calls with Siri.
• Custom call controls, which allow you to configure your calls into categories to accept, block or send directly to voicemail.

The company also offers “Call Protect Plus” for $ 3.99 per month, which includes automatic fraud blocking and the personal block list, as well as improved caller ID and reverse number search.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans have already lost more than $ 80 million to coronavirus-related scams this year, which increased by 70 percent from May to June alone. Americans across the country have been hit with more than 22 billion calls this year, according to RobocallIndex.com.

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