How to block outgoing international calls

If your father is not capable of understanding that he should not make international calls, there may be no way to stop him because he'll be able to bypass the system one way or another. While there is a way to "block" the long distance pay per use option, it does not work reliably.

Either put the $15 international call option on his phone, or switch his line to a prepaid plan. Prepaid cannot make calls outside the United States unless there is money to fund those calls.

Hello, @saigonroses! We can help you block outgoing international calls!

We recommend blocking outgoing international calls by:

1. Go to myAT&T account overview. Sign, if asked.
2. Select My digital phone.
3. Choose My voicemail & phone features and then Phone Features.
4. Scroll to Outgoing calls and select International Call Blocking.
   • Select ON to turn on international call blocking.
   • Select OFF to turn off international call blocking.
5. Select Save.

We hope this information is helpful, and please let us know if you have any additional questions.

Thank you for reaching out to the AT&T Community Forums!

Rachel, AT&T Community Specialist

Um, Rachel, this was posted in the cell phone forum so I suspect the issue is long distance cell phone calls. Not landline.

Hi Rachel, it is for cell phone. 

Hello saigonroses, thank you for that information. We're here help block outgoing international calls from that line.

Under your device check to see if the select all features for your line option is available. There should be the international calling options. Removing the check will remove the long distance calling from that line. 

If you don't see that option on your device. We want to get you into a Direct Message to further review. Check your Direct Message Inbox (it's the chat icon next to the bell icon in the upper right corner of the Forums).

We will get started on figuring out the root cause and work towards a solution on blocking those outgoing international calls. 

Jeff, AT&T Community Specialist

I do have an International Call Restrict on my IPHONE 8 plus that ATT put in; however, I got charged for an international call --it seems to have gone through, although I was using FaceTime on WiFi. There is a separate problem with this issue with What's App, FaceTime and others it seems. How can I ensure that the CALL BLOCK is working? 

@SS_81 

Since there is no such thing as international call restrict, please review the information Jeff posted and apply it to your particular line and any other line on your account that you do not want to have the ability to make calls outside the USA.

The call restrict has been placed on the phone by ATT — not me. And they can see it — so not clear why it does not work 

The call restrict has been placed on the phone

No such thing.  I don't know what AT&T told you but the restriction has to be on the line of service. AT&T can't do anything to the phone itself. And there is no restriction that AT&T can place on the line that you can't also place yourself. Please follow the previous directions provided by Jeff in your online account.  Removing the check from the international paper use eliminates the ability to make calls to other countries.  

by ATT — not me. And they can see it — so not clear why it does not work 

Some have noticed that using Wi-Fi calling, which is not the same as a FaceTime call does bypass the block.  

Best advice we can give is do not make calls outside of the United States on your phone and expect them to be free.  You can add an international calling plan which significantly reduces the costs, or use a third-party application, using Wi-Fi, with your SIM card removed from your phone. Or use a device that's not capable of phone calls like a tablet.  

I do not see options to do what Jeff has outlined above. I went to my account online as well as on my device. I went into the local store and they told me I had Add On — which shows International Call Restrict. And that it can’t be removed without my calling ATT. So it is not something I can do it seems. I have an IPhone 8 Plus — so if someone can help me with this device that would be appreciated. I generally just use What’d app — and this is the first time this has happened