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Finally Ofcom orders phone companies to block ‘spoof’ numbers used by scammers to impersonate trusted brands
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Phone companies will be forced to block ‘spoof’ numbers used by scammers to impersonate trusted brands, under new Ofcom rules.
Nearly 41 million Britons have received a suspicious call or text message in the past three months. The new rules, which are expected to protect millions of people, will come into force in May 2023.
It is the latest in a series of new measures to make it more difficult for criminal gangs to make contact with victims.
Scamdemic: Nearly 41 million Britons received a suspicious phone call or text message in the past three months
Scammers are increasingly impersonating legitimate organizations, such as banks or government departments, by “spoofing” phone numbers.
This technique allows them to hide or change their caller ID to disguise their identity. If a phone number seems trustworthy, victims are more likely to reply and follow the scammer’s instructions.
Ofcom estimates that around 700,000 people had done so in the three months to August alone.
Telephone providers will also need to ensure numbers conform to the UK ten or eleven digit format and identify and block calls from abroad that spoof a UK caller ID.
They will also have to block numbers on Ofcom’s ‘not from’ list, which includes those that banks and government departments never use for outgoing calls.
Some companies have already voluntarily implemented these measures, including TalkTalk, which said complaints about scam calls had dropped by 65 percent since they took action.