If you’re a Telstra customer and have noticed a drop-off in scam calls recently, this might be why.

Telstra has introduced new technology which automatically blocks about 1.5 million scam calls a week.

Phone companies have revealed they’re blocking about 300 scam callers EVERY minute. New data suggests Australians lost more than $9 million to criminals last month. That’s double the amount recorded at the same time last year.

Speaking with Oliver Peterson, Telstra cyber-security expert Darren Pauli said the technology is very effective.

“It’s always a cat and mouse thing,” he said.

“They adapt and so do the defenders but this is great technology.”

Telstra has always been blocking scam calls but it was more of a manual process that only stopped around one million calls a month. Now with the new automated technology this has been drastically increased to 6.5 million a month.

Australians are advised to hang-up on unexpected callers. Mr Pauli said if something doesn’t sound right, it probably isn’t.

Press PLAY to hear more about how Telstra is stopping scammers: