T-Mobile takes on scammers with free and paid tools to block, ID, and eradicate spam calls

T-Mobile and Sprint customers are about to be bothered a whole lot less. Beginning today and continuing over the rest of the month, T-Mobile is rolling out new anti-scam protections so robocalls, phishing schemes, and unknown numbers can get blocked and filtered before they ever ring your phone.

Part of the latest Uncarrier event, T-Mobile announced a new Scam Shield that brings free anti-scam protections including Scam ID, Scam Block, and Caller ID to all our customers. The new service is powered by AI and machine learning to constantly learn about the calls coming into your phone and adjust so new numbers get blocked and important calls get through. T-Mobile says the system will update every six minutes and includes several layers of defense that work with all phones and can be managed within the Scam Shield app:

Scam Block: Your phone will automatically block all likely scammers and a Scam Counter will track the number of calls that have been blocked or received. Customers will also be able to block numbers on their own.

Caller ID: Your phone will display all caller information even if they’re not in your contact list. Users will also be able to label numbers as favorites so important calls always come through. T-Mobile says verified numbers will be identified and it will work across all platforms, including iPhones.

Scam Reporting: When a scam call gets through, you’ll be able to Identify suspicious callers or fraudsters and help prevent their calls from getting through in the future by informing T-Mobile’s AI inside the Scam Shield app.

Proxy Number: All Magenta and Essentials accounts will get an extra Proxy line that they can use when they don’t want to give out your personal number. The proxy number will route to your phone as if the person was calling your regular number.

T-Mobile repeatedly called out other carriers for charging for these services, but it’s also offering a premium level for $4 a month. If you subscribe to Scam Shield Premium, you’ll be able to manage your block list and send calls to voicemail, send categorized call types to voicemail, get information with reverse phone number lookup, and get voicemails texted to you automatically.

T-Mobile customers can turn on Scam Block today by dialing #662# and access the rest of the services on July 24.

Update 3:20: Clarified that the Proxy number is only available for T-Mobile Magenta and Essentials customers.