Your customers might see calls from your number(s) displayed as “SPAM LIKELY” on their caller ID. Each phone carrier keeps a list of numbers they determine to be spam risks based on the history of the number —it is not something turboDial caused or can fix.
What’s the fastest way to resolve this?
One of the better but possibly not quick solution is to acquire and use a toll free (800, 888, etc) number as your Caller ID. Toll Free numbers are validated by the carrier as not spam. Your company must go through a verification process as part of acquiring the number. See Twilio support for more information or to proceed on this path.
The general quick solution is to acquire a new inbound number and use it in place of the number that is getting the SPAM/SCAM reports. But note, when you acquire a number it may come with a history that also causes it to experience the same issue, so always test some calls to verify the number is being treated well by the Carriers.
Other possible solutions are provided further below in this article.
Official Solution
Twilio offers a solution registering your business and phone numbers to receive SHAKEN/STIR Trusted Calling status. This is the best long-term solution.
To access this Twilio service, your turboDial account must be operating in your primary Twilio account and not in a sub-account that you don’t have full access to. If you decide to pursue this process, please log in to your turboDial Management Account and head to this page.
Testing a Number’s Status
To test how a phone number is regarded by the carriers you can make a call using the number as a Caller ID to this number: +19206661392
You will hear a computer voice description of the details for the number, including any Spam status
WHAT CAUSES THE SCAM/SPAM DESIGNATION?
In response to the growing number of scam calls to mobile phones, many carriers and third parties have created tools to identify and block scam calls. Unfortunately, these tools aren’t perfect. Businesses may have their numbers incorrectly marked by scam ID technology, particularly when calling cell numbers.
The carrier T-Mobile has a feature called Scam ID, which is automatically enabled on T-Mobile and MetroPCS devices. When someone calls one of these devices, T-Mobile checks the number against its database of reported scam numbers. If the source matches a reported scam number, the person being called sees a message that says “Scam Likely” alongside standard caller ID. The user can then decide whether or not to answer the call.
In addition to Scam ID, T-Mobile and MetroPCS also allow customers to opt in to a Scam Block feature that prevents all Scam Likely calls from reaching the user’s phone. Though T-Mobile was the first carrier to integrate this feature into their service for free, other carriers have since introduced their own paid and free versions. Third party apps also allow smartphone users to detect, report and block scam calls.
The Scam Likely Caller ID features will sometimes mark legitimate calls incorrectly. Some people may report your number without answering the phone. If this happens enough, your number will be marked Scam Likely.
This article’s author’s personal mobile phone on Verizon is displayed as Scam Likely when calling T-Mobile phones. This likely happened because illegal robo-callers were improperly using the phone’s number as a caller ID for its calls (i.e. “spoofing”), causing victims to mark the number as a scam.
Carriers are also deploying algorithms in their networks to detect a large number of phone calls originating from a common Caller ID number. They designate these calls as SPAM and display a “SPAM” message on the Display of the receiving phone.
Also, Smartphone apps are available in the Apple and Android App Stores that will monitor your incoming calls and display a “SPAM” or “SCAM” message on the phone display. These apps collect feedback from their users and use that data to identify Caller IDs that are sources of SPAM or SCAM phone calls.
WHAT ARE OTHER WAYS TO RESOLVE THIS
Here are more actions you can take when you learn your calls are being displayed as Scam or Spam:
- Register your numbers with https://freecallerregistry.com/fcr/#submitform
- The Local Presence add-on can sometimes help you avoid this problem: https://turbodial.biz/local-presence/