What’s new: The Un-carrier released its Scam and Robocall Report and shared that T-Mobile’s Scam Shield identified or blocked 41.5 billion fraudulent calls in 20221, a 75% increase from 2021. The is a whopping 1,317 identified or blocked calls per second.
Why It Matters: Scammers and spammers are constantly evolving their attack methods, while carriers and regulators continue to fight back. Industry-wide, Americans lost an estimated $39.5 billion to phone scams in 2022.
For whom: Anyone who wants to better protect themselves and their families from scammers.
BELLEVUE, WA / ACCESSWIRE / February 24, 2023 / T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS) today released its second annual Scam and Robocall Report, releasing new data looking back to 2022 to also provide insights related to scams -, Spam and Robocall activity Underline how the Un-carrier helps protect customers from these bad actors.
“At a time when scammers are becoming more creative and aggressive in their attempts, T-Mobile’s Scam Shield and advanced network protects our customers, identifying an average of 3.5 billion calls each month,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology , T-mobile phone, mobile phone. “As fraudsters quickly evolve their tactics, we must adapt our fraud detection technology just as quickly to fight back and protect customers.”
cheat behavior
Scammers are constantly improving their game to find new tactics and targets, with the total number of robocall attempts up 75% from 2021 to 2022 New return code (608) mandated by the Federal Communications Commission. Then, the volume of fraudulent calls fell steadily every month throughout the year, with occasional spikes during seasonal fraud flare-ups. Several factors contributed to this decline, including ongoing improvements in anti-fraud technology such as T-Mobile’s Scam Shield, the agility of mobile operators in implementing new prevention tactics, and the intervention of regulators.
The story goes on
Scam Shield is a leader in protecting wireless customers from fraud. In June, Verizon announced that they blocked 5 billion robocalls in the first half of the year. During the same period, T-Mobile’s Scam Shield blocked an impressive 25 billion.
Common scam tactics
Scammers followed similar patterns to previous years, targeting consumers more on weekdays than weekends and greatly increasing their activity in the two weeks leading up to Christmas (hello parcel delivery scams!). But scammers need a break too, which explains why major holidays like Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Easter and the 4th of July saw the lowest scam traffic drop by 80-90%.
Vehicle warranty fraud dominated the first half of the year, with T-Mobile’s Scam Shield blocking nearly double the number of fraud and automated calls in the first half of the year – averaging 4.2 billion calls blocked per month – compared to the average back half 2, 7 billion blocked calls/month. In July, an unprecedented cease-and-desist letter from the FCC identified eight wireless carriers — not T-Mobile — as violating the routing of those calls, effectively shutting down vehicle warranty fraud.
Scammers never stay away for long, and when vehicle warranty scams went into hibernation, health and insurance scams quickly emerged to take their place. To maximize their profits, these bad actors adjusted their tactics to target key moments throughout the year. Back to school? This is prime time for student loan scammers and Amazon scams. tax season? IRS-related scams reigned supreme.
Target Regions/Demographics
Scammers are hitting some states harder than others, with Texas, Missouri, Nevada, South Carolina and Oklahoma feeling the brunt, with victims often targeted by population and region. Texas received the highest volume of fraudulent calls involving insurance-related tactics targeting uninsured and other unsuspecting victims. States with high seniority rates like South Carolina are also important targets — scammers often pose as elder care workers pursuing Medicare and other health-related scams.
Protect yourself and your family
T-Mobile’s leading patented Scam Shield technology, built into the core of the network and free to all customers, provides the strongest defense against fraud. It updates protection every six minutes and identifies fraudulent calls before they even reach a customer’s phone. When a threat is detected, customers will receive either a scam likely alert or no disruption at all by enabling Scam Block in the Scam Shield app or by dialing #662#.
The industry continues to see a rise in robot texts as a way to fool unsuspecting victims. As scammers adapt and adopt new methods, T-Mobile continues to adapt and increase investment in robotic text protection at the network level.
T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile customers can download the Scam Shield app from the App Store or Google Play and have a dashboard for all Scam Shield anti-scam tools at their fingertips.
This report is derived from analysis of internal T-Mobile Scam Shield data. Scam Shield is available to T-Mobile customers with qualifying service and an eligible device. Enabling Scam Block may block unwanted calls, and you can disable Scam Block at any time. For more information about Scam Shield, visit https://www.t-mobile.com/customers/scam-shield. Follow the official T-Mobile Twitter newsroom @TMobileNews to keep up with the latest company news.
1Source: T-Mobile network data
About T Mobile
T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) is America’s supercharged un-carrier, delivering an advanced 4G LTE and a transformative nationwide 5G network that will bring reliable connectivity to all. T-Mobile customers benefit from an unmatched combination of value and quality, an unwavering obsession with providing them with the best possible service experience, and an undeniable drive for disruption that fuels competition and innovation in mobile and beyond. Headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile provides services through its subsidiaries and operates its flagship brands of T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile and Sprint. For more information, visit: https://www.t-mobile.com
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SOURCE: T Mobile
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