Who is “Scam Likely” (And why are they calling me)?

If you’re a T-Mobile or a MetroPCS subscriber, chances are you’ve received one of these calls recently: “Scam Likely.” This naming convention appears on incoming calls, rather than random numbers unknown to you. Seeing it pop up on the screen makes one hesitant to answer the phone.

Scam Likely, Who?

So, who is this elusive “Scam Likely” character? Fortunately, this suspicious caller is thanks to a T-Mobile and MetroPCS feature powered in part by PrivacyStar (a First Orion company) data.

Scam calls can cost Americans upwards of billions of dollars every year. In 2021 alone, we reported 110 billion scam calls with over $44 billion lost to scammers. Chances are that a “Scam Likely” caller is trying to dupe you out of your money and/or your personal information.

Twitter’s on the Case!

In 2017, First Orion monitored over 8,000 social posts that talked about “Scam Likely,” the unassuming superhero T-Mobile unleashed to fight scam calls. The one thing we noticed? People on social media had a LOT of theories on who Mr. Likely might be. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite suspicions from Twitter:

Scam Likely Then:

Scam Likely Now:

Even 5 years later people are all over Twitter still theorizing over who Scam Likely is.

Unmasking Scam Likely

This feature – known as Scam ID – flags known scam callers automatically, so you know when not to pick up. With Scam ID, users are safeguarded from these potential threats with a simple glance at Caller ID.

While many people on Twitter might think #ScamLikely is a new Apple feature, this service is not limited to iPhone users. Scam ID works on Android phones as well, so you can grab the new Samsung Galaxy and get the exact same protection on the T-Mobile and MetroPCS networks.

Stopping Scams in Their Tracks

Subscribers can also opt into “Scam Block,” which uses PrivacyStar’s database to block known scammers from ever reaching a customer’s phone. When customers enable Scam Block, T-Mobile and MetroPCS will stop scam calls before they have the chance to ring. These protections are free, powered by patent-pending technology built right into the Un-carrier’s advanced network, which means scam blocking works on every single phone on their network.

To activate these features, T-Mobile and MetroPCS users can dial the following codes from their smartphones:

• #ONI# (#664#): Enables Scam ID
• #634#: Disables Scam ID
• #ONB# (#662#): Enables Scam Block
• #OFB# (#632#): Disables Scam Block
• #STS# (#787#): Check if Scam Block is Enabled

You can read more about Scam ID, Scam Block, and Name ID protection services here.

Need to mark a legit number that’s been mislabeled as “Scam Likely?” Report a call as Scam UN-likely here: https://tmobile.com/callreporting.

Register Your Business Number

Better yet, you can register your business’ phone number using our customer portal, so your company is properly identified for all outbound calls.

Oh, and if you’re sad YOUR carrier doesn’t filter your calls automatically, you should ask them for it! You can also download PrivacyStar for iPhone and Android. We’ll label those nuisance calls and automatically block known scammers for free.

First Orion, a leading solutions provider for mobile carriers and enterprises, tracks scam call data to help us transform the mobile communications experience.