Verizon protects over 80 million customers from more than 20 billion unwanted calls

NEW YORK - No one wants to be bothered with annoying robocalls which is why Verizon continues to lead the industry forward with technologies to protect our customers. To date, with the use of STIR/SHAKEN, Call Filter and additional tools, Verizon has flagged as potential spam or blocked 20 billion unwanted calls for 80 million customers, and counting. And, with new Call Filter app features, customers have extra protection against unwanted calls.

New Call Filter features

Thanks to Call Filter, Verizon wireless customers on most eligible devices can block or avoid many of these pesky robocalls at no cost. Now, the Call Filter app has a new look and provides even more options to filter unwanted calls. All postpaid customers now have the option to send calls identified as potential spam to voicemail – or to stop it before it even reaches the device. And now, they can manage and update their Share Name ID directly in the Call Filter app, which allows their name to show to other Verizon customers with Caller ID. People are more likely to answer if they know who is calling, right?

Chances are you already have Call Filter. Take a look at the My Verizon app or the Call Filter app on your phone. 

Enhancing the call authentication experience for Verizon Fios customers

Verizon implemented STIR/SHAKEN, the technology that helps ensure customers’ calls are coming from whom they say they are and reduces fraudulently spoofed calls, ahead of the rest of industry, and now we’ve taken the extra step of enhancing our Caller ID feature for our Fios Digital Voice customers. Customers will see a “[V],” for “verified,” when the caller’s telephone provider has confirmed that the call is coming from an authentic telephone number that has not been spoofed. This “[V]” symbol will appear on the phone screen, TV screen, call log or voicemail when you’ve received a verified call. With this technology, our customers can have confidence that the Caller ID information they receive for a verified call is accurate. Fios customers can find additional information about this enhancement in our support section.

Identifying & tracing robocalls

Verizon continues to be the industry leader leveraging analytics to identify sources of robocalls and taking action to shut down the bad guys. We have created lines across our network — called “Honeypots”— to identify and observe illegal robocall campaigns, and we work with Industry Traceback Group and other carriers to trace them back to the source and notify law enforcement. Not only are we the only service provider to provide honeypot data to the ITG, but we have recently enabled the automatic delivery of fraudulent voice campaign data from our voice "Honeypots" to the ITG, with controls for Verizon oversight and security. Verizon is also the first service provider to automate its participation in ITG’s tracebacks, in most cases responding to ITG in less than a minute. We stand ready to process as many tracebacks as needed to address the robocall problem.

“Our work is far from done. With innovative technology, we’ll continue to fight the fight against these bad actors to help the cause for our customers,” said Manon Brouillette, CEO, Verizon Consumer Group.

Learn more & protect yourself against robocalls

In addition to the free spam protection features of Verizon’s Call Filter app, which is preloaded on most Verizon Android devices and available on the Apple App Store, postpaid customers can upgrade to Call Filter Plus for $2.99 per month. Call Filter Plus offers customers additional screening features, such as Caller Name ID, Spam LookUp, Personal Block List and Spam Risk Meter.

Verizon customers can learn more about our ongoing work to help prevent these pesky calls and tools to help block or avoid robocalls here.