Is your phone company protecting you from scams?

Getting a call from an unknown number can put you in a tough position. It could be an important call about someone in your family. Or it might be a scammer. That’s no naive concern. In the United States, a typical phone scam costs the victim $1,480.

But the worst part is that most phone companies already have the technology to protect us from the majority of these calls. They just aren’t willing to commit the resources needed. “Who’s Calling?“, our recent report, dives into security measures for 24 of the largest phone companies.

Half of major phone companies earned a D or an F for their efforts to keep customers safe.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) encourages phone companies to give their customers a wide range of free protection services. These include allowing consumers to reject all anonymous calls, or even something as simple as automatically blocking the numbers of known scammers.

How the four largest cell companies scored

Unfortunately, many phone companies aren’t even doing the bare minimum. Here are the results for the four largest cellular companies. How does your provider score?

• AT&T received the best grade out of the four biggest cellular providers, with an A for services and a B overall. The company provides almost all the basic protections against scam and unwanted calls, and doesn’t charge extra for any of them.
• T-Mobile offers almost as many optional services as AT&T. T-Mobile earned a C for services and a B overall. However, one of the services we evaluated, the ability to block calls with no Caller ID, requires T-Mobile’s $4 per month app for customers with less expensive monthly plans.
• UScellular earned a D for services and a C overall because it also requires some customers to pay a monthly fee — $3.99 a month — to block unidentified callers or create a list of permitted callers. The premium app is also needed to block certain categories, such as unsolicited “nuisance calls.”
• Last and lowest, Verizon scored an F on services and a D overall because all customers have to pay $3.99 per month to access features like blocking unidentified callers and providing a “check mark” or designation for verified calls.

Take a look at the full report to find out more about how your carrier scored and why.

Customers deserve better protection against scams 

No company should charge extra for essential protection services the FCC has told phone providers they’re allowed (and often encouraged) to provide. It’s almost like if a landlord charged a monthly subscription fee for the ability to lock your door at night.

Basic security shouldn’t come at a premium.

We need to be able to trust that calls and texts coming are safe and reliable. This isn’t a luxury feature; it’s a necessity. That’s why PIRG will keep advocating for stronger protections and keep holding the phone companies accountable.

If you find yourself getting bombarded with fake calls and texts, we recommend you call your service provider. Odds are, there’s a lot more the company could be doing to keep you safe.