The Federal Communications Commission has published new step-by-step guides showing consumers how to activate call-blocking and text-filtering tools already available on many smartphones and through the nation’s largest wireless carriers.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the guides on September 22, calling them part of the agency’s ongoing campaign against illegal robocalls and robotexts.
NEW
As part of our ongoing efforts to crack down on illegal robocalls and text, the FCC has published step-by-step guides that enable consumers to turn on blocking and filtering tools.
They are specific to your type of phone and carrier.
Find them here:… pic.twitter.com/XbROzqmSHH
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) September 22, 2026
The guides do not establish a new law or replace the National Do Not Call Registry. Instead, they bring instructions for existing iPhone and Android features and tools offered by AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon into one place at fcc.gov/blockit.
Many basic blocking and filtering features are available at no additional charge or are included with customers’ wireless service, although carriers may also offer paid upgrades.
What Carr Announced
In an FCC announcement, Carr called illegal robocalls the agency’s “top consumer protection priority” and said the new guides are intended to make existing consumer protections easier to use.
“Combatting the scourge of illegal robocalls remains the FCC’s top consumer protection priority,” Carr said. “And we are continuing to take additional steps to crack down on them.”
He added that the guides streamline information about blocking and filtering tools already available to consumers.
How The Guides Work
Consumers can choose instructions based on both their device and their wireless carrier.
For example, an iPhone customer using T-Mobile can consult the iPhone instructions along with the carrier instructions for T-Mobile.
The phone guides explain functions for screening or silencing unknown callers, blocking individual numbers, and filtering suspicious messages. Carrier guides direct consumers to services such as AT&T ActiveArmor, T-Mobile Scam Shield, and Verizon Call Filter.
The FCC recommends using both device-level and carrier-level protections rather than relying on only one.
The new material supplements the agency’s existing Stop Unwanted Robocalls and Texts consumer guide and call-blocking resources.
The tools can reduce unwanted calls, but they cannot eliminate them. Scammers can rotate telephone numbers, spoof caller identification information, and change tactics as filtering systems adapt.
The FCC also targets robocalls farther upstream through rules governing voice providers, caller-ID authentication, traffic blocking, and participation in the Robocall Mitigation Database.
Americans Still Receive Billions Of Robocalls
The scale of the problem remains enormous.
The YouMail Robocall Index estimates Americans received approximately 52.5 billion robocalls in 2025, down slightly from roughly 52.8 billion in 2024.
Through August 2026, YouMail estimated approximately 32.7 billion robocalls had already been placed nationwide, equivalent to about 99.6 calls per person.
June alone produced slightly more than 4.25 billion robocalls, or approximately 141.8 million per day, according to a YouMail report.
The volume increased to approximately 4.3 billion in July before declining in August, according to YouMail’s index.
Those totals include different types of automated calls, including notifications and payment reminders as well as telemarketing and suspected scam calls. They should not be interpreted to mean every robocall is fraudulent.
Scam Attempts Reach Far Beyond Phone Calls
Separate data illustrate the broader scope of telephone and text scams.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced on July 28 that she had joined a bipartisan coalition of 50 attorneys general urging the FCC to strengthen its “Know Your Customer” rules for telephone companies.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the same coalition effort July 29. The proposed requirements are intended to make providers more aware of who is using their networks and what type of business those customers conduct.
The coalition said Americans received more than 29.6 billion scam robocalls and text messages in 2025 and lost nearly $2 billion to such schemes.
The attorneys general argued that stronger customer-vetting requirements could help telephone providers identify and cut off companies using their networks for unlawful calls.
The Federal Trade Commission’s found 58% of U.S. adults said they receive suspicious calls, texts, emails, online messages, or advertisements they believe may be scams every day.
The poll was conducted February 19–23, 2026, using NORC’s AmeriSpeak Panel and included 1,133 adults interviewed online and by telephone. Its overall margin of sampling error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Decades Of Efforts To Stop Unwanted Calls
The federal government’s campaign against unwanted calls predates smartphones.
The FTC opened the National Do Not Call Registry in 2003, allowing consumers to register telephone numbers to opt out of most legitimate telemarketing sales calls.
Congress later passed the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act, commonly known as the TRACED Act, in 2019.
Among other measures, the law strengthened the federal response to illegal robocalls and accelerated the adoption of caller-ID authentication technology.
The FCC subsequently expanded its Robocall Mitigation Database and developed rules that can require carriers to block traffic from providers that fail to meet federal anti-robocall requirements.
The agency also expanded so-called “do-not-originate” requirements intended to stop calls from numbers that should not be making outbound calls.
In 2025, the FCC expanded those requirements so that all providers in a call path, rather than only gateway providers, would be required to use reasonable do-not-originate lists.
The agency has continued moving toward tougher scrutiny of providers farther up the telecommunications chain.
In April 2026, Carr proposed enhanced “Know Your Upstream Provider” requirements designed to remove voice providers from U.S. networks when they enable illegal robocalls and strengthen oversight of the STIR/SHAKEN caller-ID authentication system.
In September, the FCC also sought public comment on a potential Robocall Scorecard that could give consumers additional information about how voice providers address illegal calls.
Those measures operate separately from the September 22 consumer guides.
What It Costs Consumers
The FCC’s new how-to guides are free.
Many basic phone and carrier spam-protection tools are also available at no additional charge, although carriers may sell premium versions with additional features.
Registering a telephone number with the federal National Do Not Call Registry is free, as is filing a consumer complaint with the FCC or FTC.
The new FCC guides impose no government fee and do not require consumers to purchase a new blocking service.
North Texas Residents Have Already Been Targeted
Phone and text scams have repeatedly surfaced across North Texas.
The Dallas Express previously reported on NTTA and TxTag “smishing” messages attempting to convince recipients to pay fraudulent toll charges.
Federal officials have also warned about Customs and Border Protection impersonation calls in which callers seek money or personal information.
Local authorities have issued similar alerts.
Dallas Police have warned about scammers impersonating law enforcement, while Denton Police alerted residents to callers posing as officers and demanding money.
The Dallas Express has also reported an FBI warning involving criminals posing as representatives of the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Authorities routinely advise residents not to send money or disclose sensitive financial or identifying information based solely on an unexpected phone call or text.
Anyone uncertain whether a caller claiming to represent an agency, bank, utility, or other organization is legitimate can disconnect and independently contact the organization using a verified telephone number or website.
What The New Guides Cannot Do
Even with every available filter enabled, consumers may still receive unwanted calls and texts.
Blocking systems can also occasionally flag legitimate calls, making it important for consumers expecting calls from doctors, schools, businesses, or other unfamiliar numbers to understand how their phone’s screening settings work.
The FCC says it is addressing illegal calls and texts at multiple stages, including regulations aimed at providers, enforcement against bad actors, caller-ID authentication, private-sector filtering systems, and consumer protections.
The September 22 guides focus on the final layer of that system: showing Americans how to activate protections that may already be available on their phones and wireless plans.
Provided by Dallas Express
