T-Mobile announced that scam call traffic will more than double in 2021, with an average of 425 million calls made each week, according to Bleeping Computer. It also stated that its Scam Shield service has blocked over 21 billion of those calls for T-Mobile customers through December 2021 (at a rate of over 700 calls per second).
Over half of the 21 billion calls were tied to bogus auto warranty schemes, while others impersonated Social Security personnel, cellphone providers, car insurance agencies, and parcel delivery services. Scammers preferred Texas, Florida, Arizona, and Georgia, with the Dallas/Fort Worth area code being the most targeted.
Last year, T-Mobile launched its Scam Shield service, promising protection for all users regardless of plan. When a call comes in, you can choose to screen it as “scam likely”‘ or block it entirely using a variety of methods, as T-Mobile explains in its blog post.
AT&T and Verizon both released scam call statistics, with AT&T claiming that its ActiveArmor service has blocked more than 16 billion suspicious calls since 2016. Meanwhile, Verizon revealed that its Verizon Call Filter service shielded approximately 78 million of its customers from 13 billion unwanted calls.
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