If you have a phone, you already know that robocall scams are invasive and annoying. However, they also cost us billions of dollars. Nearly one of every six Americans lost money from fraudulent phone calls in 2018. TrueCaller projected that robocalling scams are costing Americans roughly $10.5 billion in total losses.

As robocalls increased over the years, government agencies and telecom providers have faced challenges when attempting to stop them due to existing regulations and foreign interference. Thanks to recent policies, wireless service providers now have more opportunities to use anti-robocalling technology to filter out fraudulent calls. Here are a few of the steps that your wireless service provider may be using to help prevent scam calls from reaching you:

1. Blocking calls from obviously fake numbers. Wireless providers may be able to detect and block a fake number if it contains the wrong amount of digits or a fake area code.
2. Cross-referencing official lists. Wireless providers will analyze reported illegal and scam calls on lists provided by law enforcement and government agencies.
3. Use artificial intelligence to learn data patterns. To help understand data patterns from illegal calls, machine learning can help detect new scams.
4. Working with other networks to identify the caller. If a scam call was routed by a different network, wireless providers may communicate and work together to identify the caller.

New authentication technologies are being developed to further evaluate calls. A new policy called SHAKEN/STIR makes it so providers can validate calls coming through and warn you before picking up the phone.

You can take actions to mitigate the amount of illegal calls coming to your device. Consider looking into blocking tools and settings that your carrier may already have available for you to download. Third party call-blocking apps are another way to reduce spam calls. Finally, it’s always worth it to make sure that your number is updated on the National Do Not Call Registry list and to report suspicious calls or scams to the Federal Trade Commission.

Want more tips on how to prevent scam calls on your phone? Check out our Robocalls page with more helpful tips and resources.