Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Policy

Effective Date: July 11, 2026

This Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Policy ("Policy") applies to all access to and use of Handled Calls. It is incorporated into the Handled Calls Terms and Conditions. Capitalized terms not defined here have the meanings given in the Terms.

1. Purpose

Handled Calls is designed for legitimate business call answering and related operations. This Policy protects customers, callers, telecommunications providers, AI providers, payment providers, and Handled Calls from excessive, artificial, unauthorized, deceptive, unlawful, or harmful use.

2. Trial Fair-Use Review Threshold

During a standard 14-day trial, use above 100 Verified Calls may trigger a fair-use review. A Verified Call is a call that appears to be a legitimate customer conversation after Handled Calls applies its spam, fraud, wrong-number, audio-quality, misdial, and quick-hangup filtering.

The 100-Verified-Call threshold:

• is a contractual review threshold, not a call-count cap or hard technical cutoff;
• does not automatically stop or reroute calls;
• does not create an automatic overage charge;
• does not guarantee unrestricted use up to or beyond 100 Verified Calls; and
• may be exceeded with our written approval or at our discretion.

We may review or act on suspected waste, fraud, abuse, unlawful activity, security risk, provider risk, or operational risk below 100 Verified Calls. We may allow use above 100 Verified Calls when the use is legitimate and operationally supportable. Subject to applicable law and the Terms, Handled Calls may at its discretion and at any time limit, suspend, or discontinue virtual receptionist answering for an account.

The 100-Verified-Call review threshold applies only while an account is in its trial period. Paid accounts are not subject to this threshold, but all accounts remain subject to every other part of this Policy.

3. Waste

"Waste" includes avoidable, unreasonable, or operationally inappropriate use that materially consumes telecommunications, AI, support, storage, or computing resources without a legitimate business purpose. Examples include:

• repeated test calls after reasonable setup or troubleshooting is complete;
• unattended calls, silence, hold loops, forwarding loops, or calls designed primarily to consume minutes;
• routing personal, entertainment, non-business, or unrelated traffic through the Service at material volume;
• failing to correct a known configuration that generates duplicate, misdirected, or looping calls;
• using a plan materially beyond its intended small-business call-answering purpose without contacting us about an appropriate arrangement; or
• retaining or generating unnecessary data primarily to consume Service resources.

Reasonable setup tests, quality checks, and legitimate customer calls are not waste merely because they do not result in a booking.

4. Fraud

"Fraud" includes deceptive or unauthorized activity intended to obtain service, avoid payment, manipulate usage, harm another party, or conceal identity or control. Examples include:

• false account, business, caller, payment, or authorization information;
• stolen payment methods, account takeover, toll fraud, traffic pumping, or revenue-share fraud;
• manipulating call metadata, duration, routing, classification, or identity;
• creating multiple accounts, splitting traffic, or changing routes to evade billing, review, suspension, provider restrictions, or this Policy;
• disputing valid charges in bad faith;
• impersonating another person or business; or
• using the Service to facilitate scams, deceptive solicitations, unlawful transactions, or other fraudulent conduct.

5. Abuse

"Abuse" includes use that harms or threatens people, systems, networks, providers, or the integrity of the Service. Examples include:

• spam, harassment, threats, hate, exploitation, or unlawful communications;
• automated or machine-generated call traffic not approved in writing;
• reselling, sublicensing, pooling, sharing, or operating the Service for unrelated third parties without written approval;
• probing, scanning, reverse engineering, bypassing controls, introducing malicious code, or interfering with Service availability;
• collecting or transmitting prohibited sensitive information;
• violating telecommunications, recording, privacy, consumer-protection, carrier, review-platform, or provider rules;
• using the Service for emergency dispatch, life-safety, or other prohibited high-risk purposes; or
• encouraging, assisting, or allowing another person to engage in prohibited conduct.

6. Monitoring And Review

We may use call metadata, connected duration, routing records, provider events, billing records, account history, support history, security signals, and reasonably necessary Customer Data to detect and investigate waste, fraud, and abuse. We do not promise to detect every violation.

During a review, we may ask for identity or business verification, routing details, call-flow information, an explanation of unusual traffic, security changes, payment confirmation, or corrective action. You must provide reasonable cooperation and must not conceal, delete, alter, or fabricate relevant information.

7. Responses And Remedies

Depending on the circumstances, we may:

• notify you or request corrective action;
• help correct routing, configuration, or security issues;
• require a different written service arrangement;
• restrict a feature, number, integration, route, or traffic source;
• temporarily limit or suspend service;
• refuse traffic or provider requests;
• preserve evidence or report activity to providers, carriers, payment processors, regulators, or law enforcement where appropriate;
• recover amounts owed or costs caused by the conduct; or
• terminate the Service or account.

We may act immediately and without prior notice when we reasonably believe delay could create harm, legal exposure, provider or carrier risk, security risk, fraud loss, or material operational impact. When practical and safe, we will provide notice and an opportunity to correct non-urgent issues.

8. Charges, Credits, And Refunds

This Policy does not create an automatic overage fee, service credit, refund, or right to continued service. Valid usage charges and other amounts already incurred remain payable.

If Handled Calls terminates an account without cause, the refund treatment in the Terms applies. If we restrict, suspend, or terminate for waste, fraud, abuse, nonpayment, risk, or a Terms violation, refunds are not required except where applicable law says otherwise.

9. Customer Responsibilities

You are responsible for account credentials, users, connected numbers, forwarding rules, call sources, prompts, instructions, integrations, and traffic sent to the Service. You must use reasonable security controls, keep account and payment information accurate, promptly correct routing loops or compromised accounts, and notify us at hello@handledcalls.com of suspected unauthorized use.

10. Questions And Review Requests

If you believe an action under this Policy was based on incorrect information, contact hello@handledcalls.com with the business name, relevant dates, affected numbers or calls, and a concise explanation. We may review the available records but do not guarantee reinstatement or reversal.

11. Changes

We may update this Policy as the Service, providers, risks, and legal requirements change. Material changes will be handled according to the notice provisions in the Terms.

Related documents: Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.