T-Mobile will now block scam calls whether you like it or not

You may start receiving fewer scam and spam calls starting April 5 if you're a T-Mobile customer.

T-Mobile is making it harder for spammers, scammers and other malevolents from getting customers to raise their phones to their ears.

The company is rolling out a behind-the-scenes update called Scam ID that will automatically block calls it deems to be malicious, based on "an advanced global database of tens of thousands of known scammer numbers."

The database is kept up-to-date in near real-time by analyzing every call that comes into the network with behavioral heuristics and intelligent scam pattern detection. When a match is found, the T-Mobile network tags the incoming call and warns the customer that it's likely from a scammer. Because of the way T-Mobile's network manages voice traffic, the Un-carrier is capable of analyzing every call to identify and block scammers.

The service will be rolling out to all T-Mobile One customers on an ongoing basis starting April 5, and will automatically be enabled for new customers the same day.

Another service, Scam Block, doesn't even let those calls through. It blocks them at the network level, so customers don't even have to see them in the first place.

T-Mobile postpaid customers can also enable Scam ID for themselves beginning April 5 by dialing #ONI# (#664#) and pressing the call button in their phone's dialer. To turn on Scam Block, customers can dial #ONB# (#662#) or, to turn it off, dial #OFB# (#632#). To check whether Scam Block is on or off, customers can dial #STS# (#787#).

We don't know how this will impact the ability for Google's own spam identifier to do its job on an OS level — presumably it will act as a second line of defense — and it may make irrelevant companies like Truecaller that maintain their own databases and offer similar services at the app level. Customers can easily opt out of Scam ID, but many customers may not know it exists in the first place, and will have to rely on T-Mobile to determine the identity of an incoming caller.

Phone scams come in all shapes and sizes, from the IRS scam to Medicare cons to "free" travel to credit card scams and countless others. These phone scams are run by fraudsters who are often armed with robocalling technology enabling them to target vast numbers of people and make tens of thousands of calls a minute with the sole purpose of cheating people and separating them from their money.

You can learn more about T-Mobile Scam ID, and let us know what you think in the comments below!