Telstra Introduces New Home Phone, ‘Call Guardian 301’ To Prevent Scam Calls

Australia’s largest telco, Telstra has announced a new home phone, ‘Call Guardian 301’ that comes equipped with a virtual assistant that would ask unknown callers to disclose their name prior to get connected to a call, thereby, preventing nuisance calls from scammers, according to reports.

Accoding to a report on the Australian Business Review, Telstra mentioned about a research that said this year it has received reports of more than 4,000 attempts of nuisance calls by telephone scammers trying to obtain information, illegally.

This year, New South Wales reported 1734 telephone scams, which is the highest number of cases reported from any region. Victoria reported 758 cases, followed by Queensland with 737 cases, Western Australia with 371 cases, South Australia with 217 cases, Tasmania with 48 cases, the Northern Territory reported 27 cases while ACT reported 21 cases, reports the Australian Business Review.

According to a report on Gizmodo Australia, the Call Guardian ensures that the unknown callers record their name before the call is connected and when the user picks up the call, the pre-recorded name is given after which, it is up to the user to decide whether they would want to take the call or disconnect the call or block the number. The Call Guardian can block up to 1000 numbers and the numbers stored in the built-in caller ID feature are connected straight through, reports Gizmodo Australia.

Scammers calling customers claim that they represent Telstra and ask for remote access to a home computer to resolve an issue that does not exist and they even tell the customers that their home phone will be disconnected if they do not pay a fee, the Australian Business Review reported.

“We know unwanted calls can be very frustrating for our customers. From scammers offering to ‘repair’ the family PC to salespeople calling just when you’ve settled down in front of the TV, they can be an unwelcome intrusion,” the Australian Business Review quoted Jennifer Douglas, Director of Fixed Voice and Platinum services at Telstra, as saying. “We already do a lot of work in arming our customers with the information that can help them distinguish scammers from genuine callers. Now customers can have their very own tool to block unwanted calls,” said Jennifer Douglas.

The Telstra Call Guardian 301 can be purchased on a 24 month Hardware Repayment Option with an eligible Telstra home phone plan or bundle for $3 per month or for $72 outright, as reported by the Australian Business Review.

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