Verizon's new Neighborhood Filter ends area code phone spammers

If you've ever received a strange phone call from a number that started with the same few digits as your own, then you've been a victim of area code spoofing. It's when a spammer calls you using the same area code as your own, hoping you'll answer thinking it's someone in your vicinity.

This has been a reoccurring problem for a long time throughout America, and it can be extremely frustrating to experience—especially if it happens repeatedly once a spammer gets a hold of your number. 

However, telecommunications company Verizon has taken it upon themselves to find a solution to this issue and put an end to neighborhood phone spoofing once and for all. 

Verizon's Call Filter app, available both on iOS and Google Play, now has a new option called a "Neighborhood Filter." Using this filter, you can block any unknown calls from numbers that have the same area code and initial few numbers as your own phone number.

Of course, you can add your actual neighborhood friends' numbers as exceptions in the app, to ensure that their calls will come through without a hitch. You can also let anyone who is already on your contact list call you freely, and only unknown callers will be blocked and sent directly to your voicemail. 

The app will let you know which and how many spam calls it has blocked, and if any of them was someone you know, you can choose to have that specific number bypass the Neighborhood Filter next time it rings.

Verizon's Call Filter app also has a premium paid option called Call Filter Plus, which costs 3$/month. If you sign up to it, you have the included ability to specify particular neighborhood numbers that you know are associated with scammers. However, even the simple free version is more than enough to put a stop to the horror of nonstop spam calls which only people who have experienced them will truly understand.