Virgin Media O2 announces major change for all mobile customers after blocking more than 89million dodgy texts

VIRGIN Media O2 have announced a major change for all mobile customers after blocking more than 89million dodgy texts.

A new partnership with spam and fraud call leaders, Hiya, will see AI powered tools and enhanced caller identification services rolled out for free.

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Adaptive AI will block known fraudulent calls and provide customers with more information about callers before they answer the phone.

The service will run alongside Virgin Media O2’s existing fraud protection services.

And this includes firewall technology which has blocked more than 89 million fraudulent texts from reaching customers in 2023. 

Voice security leader, Hiya uses Adaptive AI to analyse call number behaviour to determine whether to flag a call to the customer as suspected spam or block it as fraud.

Virgin Media O2 will also roll out Hiya’s advanced caller identification service, Hiya Connect, which will allow companies to add identity information to their calls with their company name, logo, call purpose and location

It means recipients immediately know who is calling and why.

This rollout is predicted to benefit businesses by providing their customers with greater peace of mind when receiving their calls.

And Virgin Media 02 making it more likely someone will answer.

Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud at Virgin Media O2, said: “In the fight against fraud, we’re committed to rolling out the latest technology to help keep our customers safe.

“From AI tools to help us block fraudulent calls, to services that help identify callers before a customer has even picked up the phone, our extensive partnership with Hiya will see us continue to improve on our existing measures and give customers’ additional protection from spam and fraudsters.”

And Kush Parikh, President of Hiya, said that the company were “doing their part” to restore confidence in voice calling.

He said: “We are proud to provide our spam and fraud solution and branded calling service to Virgin Media O2, a company known for its exceptional service throughout the UK.

“Carriers around the world are wrestling with how to prevent phone spam and scams, and protect the reputation of business customers. Hiya is doing its part to restore confidence in voice calling by aligning with leaders like Virgin Media O2.”

Phone spam and fraud are persistent challenges for telco carriers worldwide.

In the UK alone, 28 per cent of unknown calls were spam according to the latest Hiya study – and nearly 10% of those were fraud calls.

With scammers constantly evolving their methods, Virgin Media O2 is urging all mobile customers to report suspicious texts for free by forwarding them on to 7726.

How to block ‘no caller ID’ calls on iPhone

It’s important to note that on iPhone unknown callers can still leave a voice mail.

They’ll also appear on your Recents list as well.

Essentially, all the feature does is silence the calls so they don’t appear to you.

Start by opening the Settings app.

Find Phone further down the list.

Tap on Silence Unknown Callers.

Switch it on.

How to block ‘no caller ID’ calls on Android

On Android, start by going to the Phone app.

From the Keypad tab, look for the three dot menu in the top right corner.

Tap Settings.

Then go to Block Numbers.

Switch on Block Calls From Unknown Numbers.