What a Spam Risk call means, and what to do about it

Spam Risk is AT&T's name for a call it has identified as spam and labeled by category. The category comes from customer complaints, so it points to a pattern and doesn't prove the caller is a scammer.

What does Spam Risk mean?

ActiveArmor is AT&T's call-protection app for wireless customers, and its terms list Spam Risk Call Labeling & Blocking as a free feature. Those terms say Spam Risk calls are identified and labeled by category, when possible, on the incoming call screen. The categories come from customer complaints and feedback, and the terms give General spam, Telemarketers, Account services, Nonprofits and Political calls as examples. AT&T's wireless support page lists a slightly different set (Telemarketers, Political, Account services, Nonprofits, Surveys and Other), so treat neither list as complete.

Labels appear "when possible," so a missing label tells you nothing either way. And contact names saved on your phone override Spam Risk alerts, so a number you've saved never shows it.

Which carrier shows Spam Risk?

AT&T. The name comes from the terms for its wireless ActiveArmor app, and AT&T's help page for AT&T Phone for business uses it too. That's a separate product, and its steps don't carry over to the wireless app. Across the two products AT&T uses three warning labels, and they're easy to mix up:

Other carriers use other words. Verizon's Call Filter says Potential Spam, and T-Mobile shows Scam Likely plus network labels that include Potential Spam. Our Potential Spam page covers both carriers.

Is a Spam Risk call a scam?

Not necessarily. The categories AT&T names include Nonprofits and Political calls, which plenty of people don't want and which aren't fraud. AT&T treats suspected fraud as a separate case. With the default settings in ActiveArmor, calls it rates as a fraud risk are blocked so your phone doesn't ring, and AT&T warns that this can block a call you wanted. So on the default settings, a call that rings through with Spam Risk on it wasn't treated as a fraud risk.

Treat the label as a reason to look closer. If a caller asks for money, codes or account details, hang up whatever the label says.

Should I answer a Spam Risk call?

If you'd rather not decide call by call, let the app decide: ActiveArmor can send Spam calls straight to voicemail, and Always allow contacts keeps the people you've saved ringing. You can listen to the messages later and call back the ones that matter.

A phone that's also your business line is where blanket rules cost money, because a new customer is a number you haven't saved, and voicemail can park a real lead for hours. With VettedCalls, a caller who passes our screening rings you in the Cloud Softphone app with their real number showing. When you answer a call that was screened, you hear the caller's name and what they need before they're connected. A number you mark as spam stays blocked for your account until you unmark it.

How do I stop Spam Risk calls?

The controls are in the AT&T ActiveArmor app, and AT&T's terms say the app is needed for Spam Risk blocking.

1. Open the app, go to Calls & Texts, then Calls, and find Call Routing.
2. Next to Spam calls, choose to allow, block or send them to voicemail, or choose Custom to route by category.
3. Turn on Always allow contacts so the people you've saved are never blocked or sent to voicemail.
4. For one stubborn number, add it to My Block List. The app also lets you report a caller as fraud or spam.

One catch: you need an active voice mailbox to send callers there. AT&T says that without one, calls from numbers that aren't in your contacts won't go through. On an iPhone, the spam filter under Settings, Apps, Phone, Call Filtering is separate and works from what your carrier flags. Our iPhone call screening and Android call screening guides cover the phone-side settings.

Why does my business number show Spam Risk?

AT&T bases the category on customer complaints and feedback, so a number that people report tends to collect the label. Hiya, which says AT&T is one of the companies using its labeling, names four common causes: reports from several people, calling patterns that resemble spam, an earlier owner of the number having been flagged, and a flagged carrier or business elsewhere in the same number range. A legitimate business can land there too if recipients frequently ignore or block its calls, or find them disruptive. Labeling is decided call by call, so the label on your number can change.

How do I get Spam Risk taken off my number?

Hiya says AT&T is one of the companies using its labeling, and its advice for a business number is to register first and ask for a one-time review only if that doesn't solve it. There's also an att.com address, att.com/reviewmycalllabel, that forwards to a request form on Hiya's site; the form's issue list includes reporting a possible issue of spam labeling on a phone number. That is Hiya's form, not an AT&T one. In order:

1. Register your numbers with Hiya's Number Registration. It's free. You create an account, Hiya verifies the business (usually fast, and up to 24 hours), and the numbers are vetted in under a day. Once you're in, you can check whether Hiya has labeled the number, and see what's driving it.
2. If the label stays, ask for a review. You can send the affected numbers to Hiya for a one-time review. Its form wants your legal business name, website, country and the numbers, and Hiya suggests adding context that addresses poor report card grades.
3. Add Free Caller Registry as well. A single registration there reaches First Orion, Hiya and TNS, and sending the same number twice adds nothing.

Expect no promises. Hiya says registration reduces the risk of spam labels but doesn't completely prevent them, and the Free Caller Registry says it does not guarantee calls will never be blocked or labeled. The Verizon and T-Mobile routes are on the Potential Spam page, and our Spam Likely page covers calling habits and branded calling.

One limit on our side: VettedCalls has no outbound calling, so callbacks go out from your own cell and we can't change what your number looks like when you call. Where we help is incoming calls, and the call screening page shows how.