Vodafone has rolled out spam blocking technology in the UK that means it can block nuisance calls before they reach its customers.
The operator said the unnamed technology was able to block more than 425,000 nuisance and scam calls during a single day. Over the course of a week’s testing of the technology, it was able to reduce attempts to under a thousand as calls were rejected from Vodafone’s network.
Vodafone said the technology, which has been installed across its UK network, can block the likes of false PPI offers, missed call scams or numbers offering bogus prizes and offers. Consumers do not need to do anything to take advantage of the technology.
Mark Hughes, Head of Corporate Security for Vodafone UK, said: “Fraudulent calls are a scourge on society, inflicting great anxiety for victims. The protection of our customers is paramount and we have been investing heavily in our network and technology to help stamp out this practice. We will continue to evolve the technology as well as work with industry bodies and the regulator to ensure we keep one step ahead of criminals.”
Nuisance calls typically originated from dedicated dialler machines that can make thousands of call attempts per second to generate lists of mobile numbers.
Vodafone UK also runs a nuisance call bureau to try and reduce the number of unwanted or threatening calls. The operator is also a member of the Internet Watch Foundation, which closes down illegal websites.