Danny Chadwick
Google Voice will now warn you of potential spam risks to your free phone number. The company announced the new feature in a Workspace Updates blog post. Google Voice already has a spam filter, so the warning is for those who have that feature disabled.
The new label on suspected spam calls shows an enormous red circle with an exclamation point in the middle. And in bright red lettering under the displayed number, the warning reads “Suspected spam caller.” Users can decide to decline the call, which will send the spammer to voicemail, or they can choose to mark it as “not spam,” and the warning will never appear again for that number.
Google Voice will roll out Spam labeling for all users over the next two weeks. Labeling happens automatically when the Google Voice spam filter is off. Users can turn on spam filtering by digging into their settings menu and enabling it. When spam filtering is on, spam calls are sent directly to voicemail without ever coming to the user’s home screen.
Spam labels are just the latest tool in Google’s fight against spam calls. The service’s spam filter already works great, and users can screen calls (have callers state their names) before ringing their device. This warning simply adds an extra layer of protection for customers who choose to turn off spam filtering.
Source: Google Workspace Updates
