Overview
- Between late April and mid-November, Vodafone’s on-screen alert appeared about 41 million times, averaging roughly 210,000 warnings per day with a recent uptick.
- Only 12 percent of flagged calls were answered compared with about 60 percent for anonymous calls, indicating a strong deterrent effect.
- Vodafone relies on a dynamic database fed partly by user reports, yet frequent number changes by fraudsters mean some scam calls evade detection.
- Coverage applies to customers using the Vodafone network, including some providers such as 1&1, while Deutsche Telekom and O2 Telefónica have not enabled similar mobile alerts.
- Police report rising “shock calls” that impersonate authorities and note that the Bundesnetzagentur has limited recourse against foreign-origin numbers despite consumer complaints.