Virgin Media O2 announced a new milestone in anti-fraud operations. Call Defence, its free AI call protection service launched in partnership with Hiya, has flagged over 1 billion suspected scam and nuisance calls. The service can issue risk warnings before users pick up the call and significantly lower the likelihood of users falling victim to fraud. In addition, the operator had previously blocked a total of 1 billion scam text messages.
Call Defence launched in November 2024. Powered by adaptive AI technology, it performs real-time multi-dimensional behavioural analysis on unknown numbers to identify nuisance and scam calls, pops up risk alerts on mobile screens, and directly blocks known scam numbers. It currently flags roughly 70 million suspicious calls monthly. For calls marked as suspected scams, user answer rates dropped by 42% and call duration fell by 89%, demonstrating clear protection effectiveness.
According to joint statistics from the operator and Hiya, the most commonly impersonated entities in early 2026 were Amazon, HMRC (UK HM Revenue & Customs), banking institutions, VISA payment providers and insurance companies. Fraudsters impersonate these organisations, using excuses such as abnormal orders, unpaid taxes, account security issues and insurance policy problems to steal sensitive personal data including user accounts and bank card details.
Murray Mackenzie, Director of Anti-Fraud at the operator, stated the achievement marks major progress in anti-scam work. Fraudsters continuously refine tactics and even exploit new technologies to commit crimes. He urged the public to stay vigilant and report suspicious calls and texts for free via the 7726 channel. Reports submitted by users feed back into the system to continuously improve detection and blocking capabilities.
