UK’s biggest mobile networks pledge to end call spoofing

The UK’s biggest mobile networks have pledged to implement measures that will eliminate spoofed calls within a year and share more data with the police in a bid to tackle scams.

BT, EE, Virgin Media O2 and VodafoneThree are among those to sign an agreement with the Government through a new Telecoms Charter.

The networks have committed to upgrading their network within the next year to remove the ability for foreign call centres to spoof UK numbers.

Upgrading call networks from 2G to 5G means fraudsters cannot connect if they are spoofing a number, therefore blocking calls altogether or, if the caller ID can’t be identified, making clear that they are unknown or calling from abroad.

Advanced call tracing technology will be rolled out across mobile networks to provide intelligence for the police to better track down scammers operating across the UK.

They will also have new commitments to share data with the police in relation to call spoofing.

This will see the telecoms firms gather intelligence which the Government said will help expose major fraudsters and shine a light on the networks letting scam calls slip through the net.

Fraud Minister Lord Hanson said: “Spoofed calls allow scammers to deceive the public with fake identities and false promises. This government is committed to tackling fraud.

“In a major upgrade of our mobile network, call spoofing will be eliminated within a year – stripping away the tools scammers use to cheat people out of their hard-earned cash.

“We’re stepping up our defences to protect victims and make sure the UK is the hardest place in the world for scammers to operate.”

Number spoofing is a type of scam where fraudsters change their caller ID to hide their identity from the person they’re calling or to impersonate a company.

People have been widely targeted by spoof calls particularly acting as banks or credit card firms to defraud people out of their money.

Block

UK mobile network giants say they block huge amounts of calls and texts to customers every day.

Murray Mackenzie, director of fraud prevention for Virgin Media O2, said: “Fraud has a devastating impact on its victims and costs the telecoms industry many millions of pounds each year.

“We’re committed to preventing fraud and to date, we’ve blocked more than one billion scam texts from reaching our customers and are using AI to flag 50 million scam calls every month.

“We’re playing our part and urge Government to match our resolve in the forthcoming Fraud Strategy by providing law enforcement with the resources needed to bring fraudsters to justice.”

Rachel Andrews, fraud director for VodafoneThree, said it blocks “millions of scam texts and fraudulent calls” for customers each day.

Claire Gillies, chief executive for BT’s consumer division, said it was blocking “three million scams a day across our network, adding: “This second fraud charter is an important and timely intervention for the telecoms industry.”

Talk Talk, Tesco Mobile, Sky and the Comms Council UK have also signed the new charter.