Verizon to Offer Free Spam and Robocalling Features for All Smartphone Customers – Starting in March

By Mary | Senior Staff Writer

Jan 21, 2019 @ 3:07 PM MST

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Watch out, robocallers!

In 2016, Verizon added call and spam screening at no additional charge to wireless customers who subscribe to their Call Filter service (formerly Caller Name ID). This service identifies spam callers and unknown numbers by their name and displays the level of spam risk associated with a call. If a call meets Verizon’s spam criteria, the inonlineing call screen displays a spam label.

And, Verizon is about to take it one step further and offer even more protection for ALL smartphone customers!

Starting in March 2019, Verizon’s spam and robocalling features will be offered onlinepletely free to all Verizon customers whose smartphones support these features, including iPhone and Android devices. There will be more information on how to sign up for the free service as the launch date gets closer, so stay tuned for more details.

Until then, check out this page for more info.

Don’t have Verizon?

Look into which spam and robocall controls your phone carrier provides to block unwanted and anonymous calls, like AT&T’s Call Protect or T-Mobile’s Scam ID and Scam Block. Most of them are free so it may be worth checking out your phone onlinepany’s website to see what’s available.

Up next: Simple Tips to Stop Unwanted Spam Phone Calls

Join The Discussion

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Aleshia Jones January 21, 2019 at 3:18 pm MST

Thank goodness! I have been getting constant calls since switching from sprint to Verizon. Same onlinepany different number. I always block the numbers. But it doesn’t stop. Sometimes I even follow the opt out prompt on the calls but they still keep on onlineing.

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Aleshia Jones January 21, 2019 at 3:21 pm MST

I want to say I saw this on the news weeks ago, but there are flaws. One is that telemarketers have started using local area codes of your phone making it much more difficult for this program to tell if it is a telemarketer.

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Daniela January 21, 2019 at 3:25 pm MST

I already have this service with T Mobile, works perfectly. Even if the area code is a known one, the caller ID says scam likely. I have set my phone to mute calls from numbers that are recognized as scam so they go straight to voicemail.

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Michael January 21, 2019 at 3:29 pm MST

same here, I never answer when it says scam likely lol. I should also mute calls when they’re recognized as scam since they get annoying.

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Dorothy January 21, 2019 at 4:04 pm MST

Be very careful of this. There is one type of call that tries to take over your voicemail. I had scammers try scamming me by calling with my own number?? We called AT&T and asked what was going on? They told us that the scammers were trying to gain access to my voicemail. We had to put a passcode on my voicemail.

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Sarah C January 21, 2019 at 3:28 pm MST

Exactly! They can make their number appear as anything from some onlineputer app. I even had a person call me once and ask why I called him… turns out the spammers used my number on his screen without needing access to my phone. The world is nuts.

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jess January 21, 2019 at 7:37 pm MST

My sister had her own number call her. Yeah it is crazy how their doing this

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Sara January 21, 2019 at 8:34 pm MST

I got a call from 555-555-5555.

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Diana January 23, 2019 at 7:19 am MST

My husband had to have his number changed because of this. He was constantly getting calls from people saying “you called me, I’m just calling you back” when he had called no one.

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Jade January 21, 2019 at 3:43 pm MST

ATT offers this for free as well. Just call customer service and have them add it to your account!

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Dorothy January 21, 2019 at 4:01 pm MST

How long have you had this service from AT&T? Don’t they start charging after a while. I hope they will continue offering it for free if Verizon is doing it.

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Lana January 21, 2019 at 5:01 pm MST

No charge for it. We have it and it works well.

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Suzanne January 21, 2019 at 5:01 pm MST

Download the ATT call protect app. It filters a lot of spam calls. It also allows you to block numbers and report them. I’ve had it for over a year and haven’t been charged anything. ATT sent an email about the service.

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NV January 21, 2019 at 4:03 pm MST

I’m so glad they are offering this! What really stinks is my onlinepany’s main phone # is now being used by someone as a “fake” caller ID! It’s making me nuts! I have no idea how to stop that and we are getting calls from all over the country saying they have our # showing up on their phone. Ah! This phone nonsense has got to stop!

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Ashley January 21, 2019 at 4:31 pm MST

Pretty sure Verizon sold numbers to political groups before the last round of elections, and those groups sold them to spammers after the election was over. I’ve received hundreds of spam calls since November.

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Jen January 21, 2019 at 5:19 pm MST

I was given this service free from vzw two weeks ago. Even at FREE, I cancelled it. It didnt help. It requires use of an additional app (not just the vzw app) which has awful reviews. On top of that, the awful cust srv tep didnt even set it up correctly on my acct. So after 2 one hour online chats with them (and being disconnected by “accident”) I declined the service. Hubs gets dozens of calls from his OWN number and all of the calls we get are mimicking numbers with the same area code and exchange as our numbers. Ive called a few back amd they are regular peoples numbers being spoofed.

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kayti January 21, 2019 at 6:19 pm MST

If you own a Google phone, simply screen the calls and they stop calling you bc they “hear” another automated device. Problem solved!

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Sara January 21, 2019 at 6:45 pm MST

The title of this post, as well as the post on the Verizon website, is misleading. This isn’t for all customers. It is only for customers with smartphones. My mom will still be subjected to spam calls, even when I get her a LTE flip phone before 12/31/19. That is when Verizon shuts down their CDMA network.

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SM January 21, 2019 at 7:55 pm MST

It’s about time Verizon. I’m starting to wonder why I pay so much to continue on Verizon?

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Joanna January 22, 2019 at 5:13 am MST

Woohoo Verizon….not! This isn’t going to make a difference in my opinion. Idk why we stick around and pay so much for their service. I can’t wait until we finally get with another carrier. Anyone have suggestions on other affordable cell phone providers with decent service?

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