Virgin Media O2 Partners with Hiya to Roll Out Advanced Spam-Fighting Tools and Services to Consumer and Business Customers in the UK

The UK-based carrier and its mobile virtual network operators, including giffgaff, will use Hiya Protect and Hiya Connect for nuisance call management and branded calling, respectively.

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hiya, the leader in voice security, has been selected by Virgin Media O2, one of the UK’s largest telecommunications companies, to provide its AI-powered spam-fighting and branded calling services to Virgin Media O2 and its mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) such as giffgaff.

Hiya will provide customers of Virgin Media O2 with an additional layer of fraud protection, and will run alongside its existing firewall technology which has prevented more than 89 million spam texts from reaching customers in 2023 alone.

Phone spam and fraud are persistent challenges for telco carriers worldwide. In the UK alone, 28% of unknown calls were spam according to the latest Hiya study – and nearly 10% of those were fraud calls.

Spam and fraud-fighting tools, such as Hiya Protect, and branded calling services, such as Hiya Connect, can help carriers overcome these issues. Hiya Protect uses Adaptive AI to analyze call number behaviour to determine whether to flag the call as suspected spam or block it as fraud. Hiya Protect users can even build custom detection models using their own data. Hiya Connect allows companies to add identity to their calls with their company name, logo, call purpose and location, so recipients immediately know who is calling and why.

“In the fight against fraud, we’re committed to rolling out the latest technology to help keep our customers safe,” said Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud at Virgin Media O2. “From AI tools to help us block fraudulent calls, to services that help identify callers before a customer has even picked up the phone, our extensive partnership with Hiya will see us continue to improve on our existing measures and give customers’ additional protection from spam and fraudsters.”

“We are proud to provide our spam and fraud protection and branded calling services to Virgin Media O2, a company known for its exceptional service throughout the UK,” said Kush Parikh, President of Hiya. “Carriers around the world are wrestling with how to prevent phone spam and scams, and protect the reputation of business customers. Hiya is doing its part to restore confidence in voice calling by aligning with leaders like Virgin Media O2.”

Last year, Virgin Media O2 shared the most common spam text trends to help warn customers what to look out for and avoid following analysis of the tens of millions of malicious and fraudulent text messages blocked from reaching its customers. ‘Hi Mum/Hi Dad’, fake delivery and bank payment text messages topped the list.

According to Hiya’s latest report, the most common phone scams in the UK include scams impersonating the country’s tax agency, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, immigration scams, and Amazon scams. There are also service scams in the UK targeting elder subscribers specifically including energy and pension scams.

To learn more about Hiya Protect and how it can help protect your subscribers from spam and fraud, visit https://www.hiya.com/products/protect.

About Hiya

Hiya is trusted by global businesses, carriers, and consumers to provide secure, engaging connections and stop unwanted calls. Built on the world’s leading Voice Security Platform, Hiya connects businesses with their customers, helps carriers secure their networks, and protects people from spam and fraud calls. Hiya’s SaaS applications, Hiya Connect and Hiya Protect, serve more than 250 million users on the Hiya Network, powering call protection and identity for AT&T, EE, Samsung, Ericsson and more. Learn more at www.hiya.com.

About Virgin Media O2

Formed in 2021 as a joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefonica, Virgin Media O2 has more than 46 million UK connections across its award-winning broadband, mobile, TV and home phone services. Its own fixed network currently has 16.7 million premises serviceable alongside a mobile network that covers 99% of the nation’s population with 4G, and more than 3,200 towns and cities with 5G services.