To much fanfare EE created Scam Guard, positioned to 'protect subscribers from the scourge of scam calls' but in reality doing very little in this regard save applying a label to an incoming call suggesting it may be a nuisance or scam call but still presenting the call to your handset.
Since subscribing to this service a few months ago I have been doing some research, and as somebody who is plagued by these scam calls (the latest being the diesel emissions issue) I am keen to find a workable solution. Scam Guard, at least how it was positioned, seemed to be a possible answer but in practice it has made little or no difference.
What is apparent from the vast library of calls received and manually logged, almost all of them use CLI's which are invalid, so in a public switched network have no defined route back to the originator. Scam callers are consistently using spoof CLI's, typically with UK numbers (land line or mobile) as they know Number Withheld or No Number or Intl Number CLI almost certainly get ignored. And this is what Scam Guard does, there is no reference to any library of known scam numbers it simply recognises the CLI is spoofed and then labels the call as Likely Nuisance.
I have tried to register with TPS to cut down these calls but this only works for UK-registered operators, these scam calls originate from countries outside of the UK regulatory domain. Ofcom has demonstrated it is a toothless tiger as despite insisting network service providers reject spoofed CLI's before presenting them to a subscribers device they have not enforced this. EE proposed I change my number but I have had this since 1995, why should I change my number rather than a service provider utilise the technology it has at its disposal ?
So, the question to EE.. and I think it is an easy one for them to solution... why not allow Scam Guard subscribers the option for the EE network to reject a spoofed CLI before it gets to their handset.? Why label a call as Likely Nuisance as it has an invalid CLI when you can just block it, if a customer chooses to enable that option..? Of course this would need to include the necessary legal / contractual provisions and conditions in respect of EE blocking a call where a CLI might not have been spoofed but I think this risk of a false-positive would be more than welcomed by the many now dealing with the scourge of scam calls.
