To Protect Against Robocalls, AT&T Is Adding New Free Features

AT&T is doubling down on its robocall protections for customers.

The carrier announced Friday it would add three new features to its automatic fraud call blocking service at no additional cost to customers.

Starting immediately, customers can arrange for calls from anyone not in their address book or contact list to immediately be sent to voicemail. And calls from unknown callers can be identified as a “spam risk” and automatically blocked.

In addition, iPhone users will be able to block calls using Siri shortcuts, such as “Hey Siri, block the last call.”

“Our customers deserve more ways to combat nuisance calls and we are excited to provide more free tools to help them do just that,” said Kevin Petersen, senior vice president of postpaid wireless products at AT&T in a statement.

Robocalls have been an increasing issue for consumers. (For executives, too. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson was interrupted by one during a live interview.) Roughly half the calls made in all of 2018 were from autodialers and scammers. The Federal Communications Commission has made fighting them a priority, but carriers are taking their own protective steps, as well.

While today’s features are free for all customers, AT&T also offers a premium protection service for $4 per month that offers reverse number lookup, a VPN, and notification services if your information should be found on the dark Web.