Mislabeled Numbers

Spam, Scam & Fraud

If you have ever received a call on your cell phone labeled ‘Fraud,’ ‘Scam,’ or ‘Spam,’ you’ve experienced call labeling technologies in action

Call labeling technologies introduced in 2017 aimed to address the problem of a growing number of illegal calls and robocalls defrauding consumers.

These technologies assign a reputation to calls, displaying labels such as ‘Scam,’ ‘Fraud’ or ‘Spam’ on an incoming call screen.

Calls categorized as Scam or Fraud can also be blocked at the network level, based on this reputational scoring.

impact to communications

The Age of Call Blocking & Labeling

Dialing Practices

Be aware of aggressive-looking dialing practices that can lead to customer complaints and blocking, resulting in improper 'Scam' and 'Spam' labeling on your numbers

STIR/SHAKEN

STIR/SHAKEN validates the call’s origination from an authorized and authenticated source, but does not weigh in on a phone number's calling reputation

Reputational Analytics

Reputational analytics utilize a separate technology to display labels such as 'Scam' or 'Spam' as a call terminates on a called party’s mobile device

2017

Call blocking and labeling technologies, or reasonable analytics, are introduced to address the problem of a growing number of illegal calls defrauding consumers.

These technologies assign a reputation to calls, displaying labels such as ‘Scam,’ ‘Fraud’ or ‘Spam’ on an incoming call screen.

January 2018

Numeracle gets involved as the voice of the enterprise, protecting legal and wanted communications by remediating call blocking and labeling issues through our Verified Identity and Number Reputation solutions.

December 2020

Illegal robocall traffic continues to grow despite call blocking and labeling technologies and begins to harm legal communications who are being mislabeled.

The FCC publishes the TRACED Act to require the implementation of an identity authentication framework (STIR/SHAKEN) to reduce the amount of illegal robocalls by verifying the identity of the caller and prevent call spoofing.

But, the gap in STIR/SHAKEN does not weigh in, in any way, on a call's reputation, with analytics still impacting number reputation, regardless of implementation.

June - September 2021

DEADLINE

FCC mandates two deadlines to implement the STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication framework across the carrier network, tracking progress or intent to file in the Robocall Mitigation Database.

The second deadline was a deadline to hereafter mark the beginning of widespread call blocking.

Analytics

The Scoring Behind the Label

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Understanding Call Blocking and Labeling

When you get a phone call and see labels like these, you’re experiencing call labeling technologies in action

The algorithms driving reputational analytics will vary across mobile networks, but overall, risk ratings are the raw perception data driving the presentation of the call labels themselves.

Higher ‘risk’ ratings drive more severe ‘warning’ language presented to the consumer in the form of a call label but can also result in calls being blocked at the network level.

Restoring Number Reputation

Remediating > Monitoring

the benefits

A proactive approach to addressing call labeling algorithms to re-establish trust in your calling identity with ongoing visibility and control
Gain access to an approved process of labeling appeals that reaches the all the top wireless carriers and reputational analytics providers

active Management

Remediation

Few providers offer a true phone number reputation management strategy that delivers a solution to continuously improve and correct negative reputation. And there’s only one solution provider offering reputation remediation as part of an end-to-end identity management solution, giving enterprises the control and consistency to define how their calls are displayed across the wireless calling ecosystem. That’s us.

the use case

Voluntarily disclose your identity to be vetted to establish trust in your calling operations. Your Verified Identity status improves your reputation to prevent default call blocking.

Engage in ongoing remediation to correct numbers labeled as Spam as the reputational analytics change and evolve to keep your numbers clean so you may continue to dial uninterrupted.

passive Management

Monitoring

These solutions often provide updates to phone numbers that become labeled across various sources but can’t provide a path to correct reputation that’s been identified as negative.

Enterprises must review the monitoring data and them make choices on what to do about the numbers that have been flagged, often disrupting the flow of day to day operations.

the use case

When numbers become labeled, monitoring solution providers often recommend numbers are swapped, rested, replaced, or dialing strategies on these numbers adjusted.

Unprotected numbers can become labeled almost as quickly as they go into circulation.

The Difficulty

Number swapping is an endless cycle to get around labeling, losing time & resources in the perpetual revolving door of negative reputation
New numbers can inherit reputational ‘baggage’ from whoever was using them last and doesn't guarantee solving a call's reputation

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