Intelligent communication screening to restrict spam

A computer-implemented method performed by a communication screening system comprising at least one server with a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer-implemented method comprising:

• intercepting a communication at the communication screening system before delivery of the communication to an intended contacted entity;
• extracting from the communication, an identifier identifying a contacting entity that originates the communication;
• obtaining credibility of the contacting entity using the identifier, said credibility quantifying sentiment expressed from any of a plurality of reviews and a plurality of ratings relating to experiences that others have had with the contacting entity;
• screening the communication according to the credibility of the contacting entity, wherein screening the communication comprises performing a first action for the communication when the credibility of the contacting entity is below a specified threshold and performing a second action for the communication when the credibility of the contacting entity is greater than the specified threshold, wherein the first action is different than the second action.

A computer-implemented method performed by a communication screening system comprising at least one server with a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer-implemented method comprising:

• storing a plurality of configurations defined by a plurality of entities to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein a particular configuration defined by a first entity of the plurality of entities specifies a first action for the screening system to perform when a spammer attempts to contact the first entity and a second action for the screening system to perform when a non-spammer attempts to content the first entity, and wherein the particular configuration does not specify an enumerated listing of spammers or non-spammers;
• intercepting a communication from a second entity to the first entity, wherein the communication comprises a source identifier used for contacting the second entity and a target identifier used for contacting the first entity;
• obtaining, using the source identifier, information identifying the second entity to at least one of a first classification and a second classification;
• retrieving the particular configuration for the first entity using the target identifier;
• and
• screening the communication by performing the first action specified in the particular configuration when the contacting entity is identified to the first classification and performing the second action specified in the particular configuration when the contacting entity is identified to the second classification.