T-Mobile’s ‘Scam Shield’ Will Fight Off Robocallers

Everyone hates scam calls, and it seems like we’re all getting dozens of them on a nearly daily basis. T-Mobile wants to help its customers, so it’s repackaging some of its robocall-fighting tools as “Scam Shield“—and giving it out for free.

As more and more carriers adopt the STIR/SHAKEN standard, managing robocalls should get easier. You won’t see spoofed numbers, in theory, or when you do, they’ll get marked as spam. But carriers don’t have to hand out that feature for free, some can and do charge.

Play Video

T-Mobile is going a different route and handing out multiple scam call fighting tools for free under the Scam Shield Umbrella. According to T-Mobile, customers now have access to:

• Free Scam ID and Blocking. Suspicious calls are flagged, and customers can turn on scam blocking to never see those calls again.
• Free, Enhanced Caller ID. If we know who’s calling, you’ll know who is calling. And with new improvements, you’ll know when the number is verified as coming from a real person or business.
• Free Second Number. Introducing T-Mobile PROXY, a second number to keep your personal number personal.
• Free Number Change. If your personal number becomes a spam magnet, get a clean slate with a new number.
• Free Scam Shield App. The central spot to activate these new protections and, for an extra charge, unlock more advanced call controls. Sprint customers now get free protections—previously an added charge—in the upgraded Call Screener app.
• Free Be ID Aware Service. Get ID monitoring and alerts for 12 months from the experts at McAfee, available for a limited time.

Of particular interest is T-Mobile Proxy. It’s essentially a second number your family can share and hand out whenever a service or website requires a phone number to an account. All phone calls and text messages to the number goes to the T-Mobile DIGITS app, and you can check it whenever you’d like (or never at all).

If your actual number is getting too many spam calls, T-Mobile is offering a free phone number switch, something other carriers charge to let you do. To manage all the features, T-Moble has a Scam Shield app, formerly known as Name ID. You’ll turn to it to get a Proxy number and turn on specific features.

T-Mobile says Scam Shield is available to all its customers now.

Source: T-Mobile