A common tactic used by scammers to defraud victims is to imitate – or ‘spoof’ – UK phone numbers from a trusted person, organisation, or Government department. Fraudsters do this knowing that people are far more likely to pick up calls displaying a UK caller ID than if an unknown international number is displayed.
New Ofcom rules are now in effect that make it harder for scammers to use spoofed numbers. The new regulations mean UK phone companies must now identify and block all calls from abroad that falsely display a UK landline telephone number as a ‘presentation number’ – which identifies who is making a call – except in a limited number of legitimate cases.
This builds on an earlier requirement for phone companies to block calls from abroad that use a UK number as a ‘network number’, which identifies where a call is being made from.
According to Ofcom, BT reported it was able to prevent up to one million calls per day from entering its network within the first month of voluntarily implementing these measures.
The regulator is also undertaking work to look at technical solutions to tackle scam calls from abroad that spoof UK mobile numbers.
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Marina Gibbs, Ofcom’s policy director for networks and communications, said: “Today’s strengthened industry guidance will help to further disrupt a common tactic used by fraudsters operating from abroad, as any calls [that] falsely display a UK landline telephone number should be blocked from getting through.
“With further measures to tackle spoofing of UK mobile numbers being announced later this year, Ofcom will continue to play our part alongside the police, other regulators and the telecoms industry in the collaborative effort to protect consumers against scams.”
