O2 UK deploys free AI-powered scam call protection for all customers

Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has this morning announced that, following a successful trial earlier this autumn, they’ve now rolled out a free, AI-powered scam call protection service for all customers based on technology from existing partner Hiya. Over 3 million malicious calls a week are now expected to be blocked in real time from reaching customers’ phones.

The new technology, which follows a similar development by rival EE (BT) a few years ago, uses AI-assisted algorithms to monitor the network for nuisance callers, continuously refining its detection capabilities in response to customer reports and new analysis of call behaviour. Customers do not need to do anything to benefit, as the free service is rolled out automatically across O2’s network to all compatible devices.

Since the beginning of 2024, O2 has flagged more than 1.6 billion suspected scam and spam calls. Many of these are blocked using numbers on Ofcom’s “Do Not Originate” list – a registry of numbers that should never make outbound calls – but this latest upgrade significantly expands the range of fraudulent calls which can be blocked.

Similarly, data from the latest trial shows the new technology is already disrupting scammers, with 60% of blocked calls followed by repeat attempts within a minute (scammers were often unaware they were being blocked). On average, a fraud-labelled phone number attempted three times as many calls after having been blocked as before, showing that this new technology is successfully disrupting fraudsters’ operations, wasting their time and preventing them from targeting others.

Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud Prevention at Virgin Media O2, said:

“Picking up the phone shouldn’t feel like a gamble, with customers left second-guessing whether they can trust the person at the other end of the line.

That’s why we’re stepping up our defences, evolving our AI scam call detection service from flagging to blocking fraudulent callers, stopping that first ring in real time. With over 3 million calls expected to be blocked each week, we’re helping keep more Brits safe from scams than ever before. But with scammers evolving too, everyone can play their part by reporting new numbers to 7726 so we can shut them down faster.”

Minister for Fraud, Lord Hanson, said:

“The criminals behind scam calls are using ever more sophisticated tactics to deceive people and steal their money.

Through our Fraud Strategy and Telecoms Charter, we are continuing our work with mobile networks to block scam calls before they reach the public.

I welcome this initiative from O2, which will stop millions of scam calls and make it harder for fraudsters to target customers.”

According to VMO2’s latest quarterly Scam Index, there has been a surge in scam calls, with 61% of Brits who encountered a suspected scam saying they’d received a suspicious phone call between July and September 2026, a five percentage point jump compared to the previous quarter.

Alongside call flagging, O2 uses firewall technology to block fraudulent text messages. More than 1.4 billion text messages have been prevented from reaching customers’ phones to date. If a customer receives a suspicious call or text, they should report it for free to 7726, which will help improve its blocking in future.

O2 claims to be the “only major UK provider not to charge extra for advanced AI-powered call flagging and blocking“, which is something that one or two of their rivals might dispute, depending upon how they choose to define “advanced“.