I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had a call telling me my Amazon account has been compromised (heads up to spammers – I don’t have an Amazon account, on principle I will not work with Amazon because of their tax dodging behaviour) and, secretly, I do find some spam calls very entertaining. However spammers cause significant pain and financial loss to far too many people in the UK so Ofcom’s changes are good news.
Spam calls:
We know spammers work by targeting people and businesses with dodgy schemes to steal money or personal details and up until now they have been able to ‘mask’ their location by giving out a UK landline so you’re more likely to answer.
But not any longer.
Ofcom has brought in new rules forcing phone providers to block spam calls from abroad that fake a UK landline number. This makes it much harder for fraudsters to fool people that they are UK based.
What’s changed?
Under the new guidance, UK network phone providers must:
- Block calls from abroad that pretend to be from a UK landline.
- Prevent spammers from using fake caller IDs to impersonate trusted organisations.
- Build on earlier rules that blocked overseas calls using a UK ‘Network Number’ (which shows where a call comes from).
These changes will help cut down spam calls and make phone calls safer for all of us.
Immediate impact
BT has already seen success. After voluntarily blocking spam calls, they stopped up to one million dodgy calls per day. With Ofcom now enforcing these rules across the industry, we should see a big drop in scam calls.
What’s next? Mobile numbers in the spotlight
Right now, these rules focus on landline numbers, but Ofcom is also looking at ways to stop spammers spoofing mobile numbers. They’re working on new proposals, so expect further protections soon. You may already have received a call on your mobile phone that presents as ‘potential fraud call’ and if it’s one then you can easily forward the number to Ofcom by copy and text it to 7726.
How your businesses can stay safe
A few steps will help your business beat the scammers!
- Screen & filter calls and block inbound calls from spammers (modern systems can do this).
- Train staff to spot spam calls and avoid sharing sensitive details.
- Partner with a trusted telecoms provider for secure systems.
Wrapping up and cracking down!
Ofcom’s crackdown on spam calls is great news for businesses and consumers. By blocking fake UK landline numbers from abroad, these changes will cut fraud and help restore trust in phone calls. But spammers are always evolving, so staying alert and working with a reliable telecoms provider is key to keeping communications safe.
