Anti-fraud measures are now a battle of “AI vs!　Nuisance Calls” are Shifting from Landline Phones to Mobile Phones…The Forefront of Nuisance Call Fighting

The target is “Japan”!

The number of unwanted phone calls, such as scams and sales solicitations, is on the increase. While previously these calls were made to landlines, recently they have been coming to cell phones (smartphones), and in particular, unwanted calls from overseas have been increasing.

The National Consumer Affairs Center notes that international calls from unknown numbers overseas are increasing, and that it is effective to ignore incoming calls that appear to be nuisance calls or to block international calls. A person in charge of the Consultation and Information Department warns, “There are calls from unknown numbers that ask for personal information, so please be careful.

According to the National Consumer Affairs Center, the following consultation was received in July from a woman in her 50s.

I received a call on my cell phone from an overseas number starting with “+” and answered it. An automated voice guidance played ” Power transmission will stop soon.” It said, “If you want to confirm, press 1,” so I pressed 1. A man answered and said, “Electricity will stop soon. The man identified himself as a major electric power company, but when I asked him what was going on, the call was cut off unilaterally.

A woman in her 40s gave us the following information.

When we answered the phone, the caller claimed to be a payment collection agency and said, ” We want you to pay 300,000 yen in unpaid bills. I was surprised and gave my name, date of birth, and other information. Looking back calmly, I realized that the phone number began with a “+” and that the call was an international call from overseas. He said he was worried that the personal information he provided might be misused.

According to the website of the National Police Agency’s “Special Fraud Countermeasure Page,” about 73.5% of special fraud calls were international calls as of the end of June this year.

There are various countermeasures against such unwanted calls, such as ignoring calls from unknown numbers such as international calls beginning with “+,” or setting an answering machine to record the caller’s voice before deciding what to do.

Utilizing “AI

Recently, smartphones equipped with unwanted call prevention functions have gone on sale. The iPhone, which accounts for more than half of the domestic smartphone market, released its latest iPhone 17 series in September, and one of the most notable of the various new features is “call (incoming) screening” to prevent unwanted calls.

According to Apple’s official website, when an incoming call comes in from a number not registered on the iPhone, AI automatically answers, and after listening to the name and business of the caller, a ring tone sounds, and the user can decide whether or not to answer based on the information displayed. The user must register the number of an acquaintance or other person in “Contacts” in advance.

In September, Apple released iOS26, the latest version of the iPhone’s operating system (OS), which supports the latest features, including call screening. The official Apple website states that the latest version of iOS26 is now available for the iPhone17.

According to Apple’s official website, iPhone 11 (released in September ’19) or later and iPhone SE (2nd generation / released in April ’20) or later can be updated to iOS26. screening function is expected to be available.

On the other hand, for Android phones, the call screening function is already available for Google Pixel 6 (released in October ’21) and later models.

With the introduction of iOS26 for the iPhone, the number of models that can use the call screening feature has expanded to both iPhone and Android phones.

If the call screening feature doesn’t work…

But what if you are an Android phone user who cannot use the call screening feature, such as a non-Google Pixel phone user?

If you have registered the numbers of people you know, etc., in your phone’s “Contacts” app, you can safely answer incoming calls by displaying their names and other information. The problem is incoming calls from unregistered, unknown numbers. Although we do not want to answer nuisance calls, there are times when we need to answer a call for business or other reasons.

An industry insider in the cell phone telecommunications business says , “There are two ways to deal with unwanted calls: one is through applications and services provided by telecommunications carriers, and the other is by using the functions of smartphones.

A representative from the National Consumer Affairs Center also cautions, “If you receive an incoming call from an unknown number, do not answer immediately, do not return the call immediately, and set the answering machine to call back if necessary after you know who the caller is. If you do answer an incoming call and it turns out to be a sales pitch, it is important to decline the call clearly, without prolonging the conversation. If the caller talks as if he or she is worried, the consumer will suffer because the caller is good at talking over the consumer’s concerns,” he says.

Apps and services offered by telecommunication carriers

Apps and services provided by telecommunication carriers display warnings when receiving calls from numbers suspected of being nuisance calls, and also allow users to set call blocking for certain numbers and blocked calls.

How do telecommunication carriers’ apps and services know which numbers are suspected to be unwanted calls? According to the official websites of telecommunication carriers, they receive unwanted call numbers from the police, and it seems that they use such information.

Some of the major telecommunications carriers offer applications and services for a fee, so it is advisable to check their websites.

NTT DoCoMo offers an application called “Anshin Security” for 220 yen per month that displays a warning screen when receiving unwanted calls.

For ¥110/month, users can register up to 30 unwanted numbers, and the system will respond with the message, “Calls to the number you have dialed cannot be connected due to your preference.

SoftBank] offers services such as “Number Block” and “Security One. The Number Block service costs 110 yen per month and blocks up to 30 incoming calls to registered numbers. Security One, which costs 440 yen per month, detects incoming unwanted calls and notifies you with a warning screen.

On the other hand, as mentioned above, a general unwanted call countermeasure for the smartphone itself is to register numbers in “Contacts” that require an answer, such as acquaintances, and not to answer unknown numbers. If your phone has an answering machine, check the recording to see who was calling and what the call was about, and call back if necessary. If the call is a nuisance call, set the number as a blocked number.

If you can take the trouble yourself, you can search the Internet later for an unknown incoming number and find out that it has been identified as a nuisance call, such as a sales solicitation.

What is “0800?”

Can we easily identify nuisance calls by their numbers? The most common sales solicitations, for example, are 0800. is common in sales solicitations and the like. Like numbers beginning with “0120,” these numbers are charged by the caller.

A person in the telecommunications business mentioned above said that numbers beginning with “0800”are “used by companies, etc., but there are many unwanted calls, such as nuisance calls and insurance solicitations, ” and that it is difficult to judge a number by itself.

The only way to fight off unwanted calls seems to be to utilize the call screening function if the phone model is available, or, for other smartphones, to combine analog responses and get used to using the phone in a way that suits you.

If you are troubled by nuisance calls, the National Consumer Affairs Center recommends that you consult with family members, others around you, or the Consumer Affairs Center rather than worrying alone. The National Consumer Affairs Center also offers a consultation service called the “Denwa Center,” which is commissioned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) to provide support for crime prevention and unwanted phone calls in cooperation with local governments. The contact point may be able to give you some hints on how to deal with the situation.