Rakuten Mobile launched two anti-fraud services on July 9, 2024: "Nuisance Call & SMS Countermeasures by Whoscall" and "Nuisance SMS Rejection Setting". The former is an optional service priced at 330 yen per month, which identifies incoming call numbers and automatically blocks high-risk calls. The latter is automatically provided free of charge to eligible users of the "Rakuten Saikyo Plan", and it identifies messages containing phishing sites, malicious apps, or suspicious numbers and rejects their delivery before users receive the SMS.
"Nuisance Call & SMS Countermeasures by Whoscall" is provided through a partnership between Rakuten Mobile and Gogolook. Before an incoming call reaches the phone's system call app, the service determines the caller's identity based on number information and displays the possible business name or risk alert. If a number is identified as a high-risk target such as fake billing or fraud, the system can automatically reject the call. The service can also categorize content received in the system messaging app, sorting necessary information and suspected irrelevant or risky messages into different folders.
The free "Nuisance SMS Rejection Setting" focuses more on SMS phishing scams. The system detects messages before they reach users by referencing information such as the sender number, URLs and phone numbers contained in the SMS. If the content is judged to induce the installation of malicious apps, or to steal mobile phone numbers, verification codes, account information or bank card details, the system will directly reject the message. Users do not need to apply for the service, which is automatically activated upon launch; if they do not wish to use it, they can turn it off in the "my Rakuten Mobile" app.
Rakuten Mobile emphasizes that this function does not guarantee blocking all phishing SMS, and automatically rejected messages cannot be viewed or recovered. Therefore, users should remain vigilant and not trust unfamiliar links, urgent payment prompts, or messages requesting verification codes. The service is applicable to users of the "Rakuten Saikyo Plan", "Data Type Plan", and Apple Watch Family Sharing, but enterprise plans are not covered by the free blocking service.
Information on detected risky SMS can be anonymized and statistically processed to improve identification accuracy, and to support cross-mobile-operator SMS phishing governance. This practice balances fraud protection, privacy protection, and industry collaboration, but users should still be aware of the service's scope of application and the possibility of misjudgment.
