Statement: Tackling scam calls – expecting providers to block more calls with spoofed numbers

Scam calls can cause significant financial and emotional harm to their victims. They can also damage trust in phone calls.

In this consultation, we are proposing to update our Calling Line Identification (CLI) guidance (PDF, 332.3 KB) to confirm that phone providers are expected to identify and block calls from abroad that use a UK geographic or non-geographic telephone number as a Presentation Number, except in a small number of legitimate use cases.

This update should remove a loophole through which scammers can spoof a UK number from abroad (making it look like the call is coming from a UK-based organisation) and connect these calls to UK users.

Responding to this consultation

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