O2 is now using AI to block 3 million scam calls a week
Telecoms giant O2 has announced that it has upgraded its cybersecurity by rolling out AI-powered fraud call blocking for all customers free of charge, following a successful trial early this autumn.
In a statement on Friday (30 October), the firm noted that over three million malicious calls a week are now expected to be blocked in real time from reaching customers’ phones on its network.
While other operators offer some form of scam protection, O2 claims that it is the first UK operator to block all calls suspected as scam.
Blocking calls before they reach you
O2 has partnered with Hiya, and the technology uses AI-assisted algorithms to monitor the network for nuisance callers, continuously refining its detection capabilities in response to customer reports and new analysis of call behaviour.
Customers do not need to do anything to benefit, and the free service will be rolled out automatically across all compatible devices, the network operator said.
During the testing, O2 said it saw scammers repeatedly try to reach the same customers multiple times, seemingly unaware they were being blocked, with 60% of blocked calls showing as repeated attempts made within a minute of the first.
On average, a fraud-labelled phone number attempted three times as many calls after having been blocked as before, showing that this new technology is successfully disrupting fraudsters’ operations, wasting their time and preventing them from targeting others.
While O2 already blocks calls from scammers attempting to use numbers on Ofcom’s ‘Do Not Originate’ list – a registry of numbers that should never make outbound calls – this latest upgrade significantly expands the range of fraudulent calls which can be blocked, it said.
“Picking up the phone shouldn’t feel like a gamble, with customers left second-guessing whether they can trust the person at the other end of the line,” said Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud Prevention at Virgin Media O2.
“That’s why we’re stepping up our defences, evolving our AI scam call detection service from flagging to blocking fraudulent callers, stopping that first ring in real time. With over 3 million calls expected to be blocked each week, we’re helping keep more Brits safe from scams than ever before. But with scammers evolving too, everyone can play their part by reporting new numbers to 7726 so we can shut them down faster.”
