Telstra is trying to save its customers the trouble of dealing with unwanted calls through its new Scam Protect feature.
Rolling out to all Telstra network customers this month following a soft launch in December 2024, the feature aims to make it easier for consumers to identify before they answer by flagging suspicious incoming calls. In practice, the new scammer screening system looks for spoofed numbers, suspicious calling patterns and whether or not a given call is coming from overseas.
If an incoming call trips the right red flags, Telstra customers will then be presented with that additional context, giving them the chance to hang up on would-be bad actors before they even answer the call.
In a blog post announcing the rollout, Telstra Consumer Executive Tom Beach pointed to the ACCC's latest Targeting Scams report and noted that phone scams accounted for over $100 million in losses by consumers in 2024.