Clamping down on scam calls from abroad

• Phone companies to block more calls from abroad which imitate UK landline numbers under strengthened Ofcom guidance
• Many people still receive suspicious calls and texts, despite recent decline, so more work to be done to tackle problem
• Regulator calls for evidence on innovative solutions to disrupt UK mobile number spoofing from abroad and mobile messaging scams

People will be better protected against scammers who call from abroad and imitate UK landline numbers, under strengthened industry guidance introduced by Ofcom today.

A common tactic used by criminals to defraud victims is to imitate - or ‘spoof’- phone numbers from a trusted person, organisation, or Government department, so their calls are more likely to be answered. Fraudsters based abroad often spoof UK numbers, knowing people are more likely to pick up these calls than if an unknown international number is displayed.

Following a consultation, we are further strengthening our guidance in this area. Phone companies will now have to identify and block calls from abroad which falsely display a UK telephone number as a ‘Presentation Number’, except in a limited number of legitimate cases.[1]

Evidence gathered during our consultation suggests that these blocking measures will have a significant impact on protecting the public from scam calls. BT has already prevented up to one million calls per day from entering its network within the first month of implementing these measures on a voluntary basis, and our guidance will ensure this becomes standard practice across the industry.

Building on this work, we are also today publishing a Call for Input seeking views and evidence on the effectiveness, costs, risks and timescales of different technical solutions to tackle scam calls from abroad which spoof UK mobile numbers. Our current rules do not require operators to block all calls from abroad with +447 numbers so that genuine calls from UK callers roaming abroad are not blocked.

Experience of suspicious calls and texts is common despite evidence of a decline, so more work to do.

Today’s announcement comes as Ofcom’s latest research shows many consumers are still receiving suspicious calls and texts, but there are signs of a decline in the proportion of people experiencing suspicious calls or texts.

In 2024, just under half of UK landline users (48%) said they’d received a suspicious call in the last three months – down from 56% in 2021. Mobile users also reported a decrease in receiving suspicious calls, from 45% to 39% over the same period. Mobile users are most likely to receive a suspicious text message, although incidence has also fallen from 74% in 2021 to 56% in 2024.[2]

But we know that scammers are constantly looking for new ways to contact people and to evade existing disruption measures.  To continue our work on deterring mobile messaging scams [3], a second Call for Inputs, published today, sets out our understanding of the market including new analysis of how scams are perpetrated within it, and evidence on the current scale of the problem – including highlighting areas where data gaps remain.

It also discusses existing approaches in the UK and internationally to disrupt mobile messaging scams. We invite evidence on their impact and ask where further action might be needed.

Criminals who defraud people by exploiting phone networks cause huge distress and financial harm to their victims. While there’s encouraging signs that scam calls and texts are declining, they remain widespread and we’re keeping our foot to the throttle to find new and innovative ways to tackle the problem.

Under our strengthened industry guidance, millions more scam calls from abroad which use spoofed UK landline numbers will be blocked – with similar plans underway for calls which spoof UK mobile numbers. We’re also challenging the industry and other interested parties to provide evidence on the best solutions to tackle mobile messaging scams.

- Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom's Group Director for Networks and Communications 

Notes to editors:

1. There are two numbers associated with an incoming call: the ‘Network Number’, which identifies to the network where the call is being made from, and the ‘Presentation Number’, which identifies who is making the call and is shown to the recipient. There are some scenarios where a caller may wish to display a different number to the line that the call is being made from, such as a call centre that makes calls on behalf of different businesses, or businesses which may wish to display a single number for outbound calls. Our newly strengthened guidance requires phone companies to identify and block calls from abroad seek to display a UK telephone number as a Presentation Number unless they meet legitimate use criteria. This extends our existing guidance which already requires phone companies to block calls from abroad that use a UK number as a 'Network Number'.
2. Research conducted by Yonder Consulting among nationally representative samples of 2124 (September 2021) and 2128 (Jan/Feb 2024) adults aged 16+ in the UK.
3. This focuses on scams sent through traditional SMS messages and Rich Communication Services (RCS), a newer service that seeks to modernise SMS with additional functionality. We consider that RCS is likely to become more widely available in future and we therefore expect that scammers will increasingly seek to exploit it. As such, we are seeking to gather evidence on how scammers are using it and potential solutions. Consumers, and therefore scammers too, are also increasingly using online and app-based services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Following the passage of the Online Safety Act, Ofcom has new responsibilities to help make online services such as these safer for all users, including overseeing how these services fulfil their duties about tackling fraud. Ofcom will have a range of tools to ensure that services that fall in scope satisfy their online safety duties, including setting out codes of practice and guidance for the providers of regulated services. Ofcom has consulted on some of these, and the new rules will come into force once the codes and guidance are approved by Parliament.