AT&T and T-Mobile join forces to fight robocalls and scammers

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spam-call
Suck it, spammers!
Photo: Icons8/Unsplash

AT&T and T-Mobile today confirmed an unlikely partnership for a wonderful cause. The rival carriers are joining forces to fight robocalls and scammers.

Both will deliver the FCC-recommended STIR/SHAKEN standards to digitally validate calls across their networks. It will make it easier for customers to filter out unwanted calls.

Few things are more frustrating than answering the phone to a shameless scammer. And spam calls are getting more frequent, with 48 billion robocalls made in the U.S. alone last year.

But carriers are fighting back. AT&T and T-Mobile are so determined to put a stop to robocalls and scammers that they’re putting their differences aside and joining forces.

AT&T and T-Mobile are new BFFs

The two operators will digitally validate calls across both their networks. They’ll do this by establishing whether a call is really coming from the number you see on your smartphone display.

What does this mean for you? From today, you’ll start seeing a “Caller Verified” message when getting a trusted call from another T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, or AT&T subscriber.

It will be easier than ever to establish which calls you should answer, and which you should ignore.

It won’t work on iPhone … yet

“While authentication won’t solve the problem of unwanted robocalls by itself, it is a key step toward giving customers greater confidence and control over the calls they answer,” T-Mobile says.

Starting today, 12 devices from Samsung and LG will support the new feature, but T-Mobile promises that more will be compatible “in the near future.” It also plans to verify more numbers over time.

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