Dealing with constant spam and scam calls can be frustrating. Cloaked helps protect your privacy by removing your personal information from data brokers and providing you with unique, anonymous phone numbers through Cloaked Identities. Now, to actively combat unwanted calls, Cloaked has recently launched Call Guard, our intelligent call screening feature.

What is Call Guard?

Call Guard acts as a smart gatekeeper for your phone line. It's designed to filter out disruptive spam and scam calls while ensuring legitimate callers, even unknown ones, can still reach you after being screened.

How does Call Guard Work?

Call Guard analyzes incoming calls based on whether the caller is in your phone's contacts:

1. Calls from Contacts: If the caller's number is saved in your phone's contacts, the call will ring through directly to you as normal.
2. Calls from Non-Contacts: When an unknown number (not in your contacts) calls:
   • Instead of ringing your phone directly, the call is routed to Cloaked's intelligent voice assistant.
   • The voice assistant interacts with the caller, asking brief questions to understand who they are and why they're calling. This helps differentiate legitimate callers (like delivery services, appointment reminders, or new acquaintances) from potential spammers or scammers.
   • Legitimate Call: If the voice assistant software determines the call is likely legitimate, it will forward the call to your phone, allowing you to answer.
   • Non-Legitimate/Spam Call: If the software suspects the call is spam/scam, or if the caller doesn't interact appropriately, the voice assistant may politely end the call (e.g., "I'm not able to assist you here. Have a nice day") or potentially prompt the caller to leave a voicemail, preventing the unwanted call from disturbing you directly.

Getting Started with Call Guard

Call Guard is currently being rolled out and may not be visible in all accounts yet.

• Check Your App: Look for the Call Guard option within your Cloaked mobile app.
• Enable and Set Up: If available, toggling Call Guard on will initiate a setup process. For detailed instructions, please follow our guide: Getting Started: How to Set Up Call Guard
• Don't See Call Guard? If the option isn't visible in your app, please reach out to Cloaked Support, and we'll gladly assist in enabling the feature for your account.

I have Call Guard, Now What?

Call Guard does an excellent job screening calls that are already coming in, protecting you from scams and spam that reach your number. But effective privacy protection also involves a crucial proactive step: preventing spammers and data brokers from getting your real phone number in the first place.

This is where Cloaked Identities are essential.

Think of Call Guard as the shield for incoming calls, and Cloaked Identities as the strategy to keep your number hidden from public view. By using Cloaked Identities, you can generate unique, masked phone numbers (and emails, passwords, etc.) whenever you sign up for services, shop online, or give out contact information.

Instead of providing your real phone number, you give out a Cloaked number associated with a specific identity. This means:

• Your personal number stays private and secure.
• Businesses and potential data brokers only receive the masked number.
• Calls to your Cloaked numbers are still screened by Call Guard if the caller isn't in your contacts, giving you layered protection.

Using Cloaked Identities consistently is the best way to minimize the chances of your real number ending up on spam lists, reducing the need for call screening over time.

• You can learn more about generating Cloaked Identities by clicking here.
• Learn more about Cloaking yourself by clicking here.

Additional Control: Number Locking for Cloaked Numbers

For an even stricter level of control over specific Cloaked numbers you've generated, Cloaked offers Number Locking.

• What it Does: When enabled for a specific Cloaked number, Number Locking prevents anyone who is not saved in your identity's contacts (or whose number you haven't previously initiated contact with from that Cloaked number) from reaching you via that specific Cloaked number.
• When to Use It: This provides maximum certainty that only known contacts can get through to a particular Cloaked number, effectively blocking all other callers (including legitimate unknown ones that Call Guard might otherwise screen and allow).
• You can learn more about this feature here: What is Number Locking and how do I use it?

To conclude, by using Cloaked Identities proactively and enabling Call Guard for smart screening, you create a comprehensive defense against unwanted calls and protect your personal phone number.