Verizon takes on neighborhood spoofing scams

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - You know those pesky calls — the ones you receive from unfamiliar numbers that have the same area code and prefix as yours, but that aren’t from anyone you know. Scammers use this tactic — called neighbor or neighborhood spoofing — to trick you into answering their call. Verizon has good news for you, and bad news for the bad guys. Our free Call Filter app now includes Neighborhood Filter, which allows you to silence and send neighborhood spoofing calls to voicemail, along with those in any other area codes and prefix combinations that could be suspect. This launch is part of our ongoing commitment to protect you from unwanted calls.

Neighborhood Filter features and functionality

This new feature, available to Call Filter Free and Call Filter Plus customers using most Verizon-purchased smartphones, can be activated in the Call Filter app under “Block Filters” in the “Management” section. Call Filter Free app users can block up to five additional neighborhood entries on top of their own, and Call Filter Plus customers can add up to ten additional neighborhood entries. Customers can access step-by-step instructions to activate the Neighborhood Spoofing feature in Call Filter on either iOS or Android.

The Neighborhood Filter will block all calls that fall within that neighborhood, even legitimate ones, unless the phone number is saved in your contacts. If the filter blocks a call you wanted to receive, you can select “Ignore Filter” in the post-call details in the Call Filter app and it will not be blocked again. The filters can be removed at any time by tapping “Remove” next to the neighborhood in the “Other Filters” section of the “Block Management” page.

All the benefits of Call Filter at your fingertips

The Neighborhood Filter is the latest enhancement to Call Filter, which gives you the power to block or avoid many of these robocalls at no cost. While Call Filter auto blocks high risk (Potential Fraud) calls, you may choose to block all spam risk levels in order to silence spam callers from reaching your device with just a few taps on the free Call Filter app or by going to My Verizon.

In addition to the free spam protection benefits of Verizon’s free Call Filter app, postpaid customers can upgrade to Call Filter Plus for $2.99 per month, which offers more features, including:

• Caller Name ID
• Spam LookUp
• Personal Block List
• Spam Risk Meter

Verizon’s robocall prevention gives you peace of mind both far and wide

Verizon’s work to combat robocalls has led the industry forward, with over 78 million customers protected from over 13 billion unwanted calls and counting. We have been driving adoption of STIR/SHAKEN, an industry-wide effort that helps verify that a call is in fact from the number displayed on the Caller ID and not spoofed. And we recently confirmed that we met the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) industry mandate to sign calls with STIR/SHAKEN.

Visit “Protecting Customers from Robocalls” to learn more about our ongoing work to help prevent these pesky calls and tools to help block or avoid robocalls.