Voice security specialist Hiya is to provide its AI-powered spam-fighting and branded calling services to Virgin Media O2 and its mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) such as giffgaff.
The additional layer of fraud protection will run alongside its existing firewall technology which has prevented more than 89 million spam texts from reaching customers in 2023 alone.
According to a study produced by Hiya, 28% of unknown calls were spam and nearly 10% of those were fraud calls in the UK alone.
“In the fight against fraud, we’re committed to rolling out the latest technology to help keep our customers safe,” said Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud at Virgin Media O2. “From AI tools to help us block fraudulent calls, to services that help identify callers before a customer has even picked up the phone, our extensive partnership with Hiya will see us continue to improve on our existing measures and give customers’ additional protection from spam and fraudsters.”
Hiya Protect uses Adaptive AI to analyze call number behaviour to determine whether to flag the call as suspected spam or block it as fraud. Hiya Connect allows companies to add identity to their calls with their company name, logo, call purpose and location, so recipients immediately know who is calling and why.
“We are proud to provide our spam and fraud protection and branded calling services to Virgin Media O2, a company known for its exceptional service throughout the UK,” said Kush Parikh, President of Hiya. “Carriers around the world are wrestling with how to prevent phone spam and scams, and protect the reputation of business customers. Hiya is doing its part to restore confidence in voice calling by aligning with leaders like Virgin Media O2.”
Last year, Virgin Media O2 shared the most common spam text trends to help warn customers what to look out for and avoid following analysis of the tens of millions of malicious and fraudulent text messages blocked from reaching its customers. Topping the list were ‘Hi Mum/Hi Dad’, fake delivery and bank payment text messages.
