Ofcom, Britain’s communications regulator, has proposed new rules aimed at preventing scam texts from reaching consumers and businesses. The regulator indicated that these measures would address current protections available to mobile users and facilitate the blocking of scams by network operators. Ofcom’s strategy delivery director, Amy Jordan, stated that these plans aim to encourage mobile companies to implement established strategies to combat these fraudulent activities.
Public feedback on these proposals is currently being accepted until January 28, 2026, with a final decision anticipated in the summer of the same year. Ofcom reported that, between November 2024 and February 2025, half of mobile phone users in the UK received at least one suspicious message, with 100 million messages reported to network operators during the year leading up to April 2025. Although mobile providers have already blocked approximately 600 million scam texts annually, Ofcom intends to enhance user protections further.
The regulator identified two primary scam methods. The first involves impersonating friends or family, often in urgent situations, while the second pertains to business messaging scams that mislead individuals into clicking fraudulent links by posing as legitimate companies.
To combat business messaging scams, Ofcom’s proposals include conducting thorough checks on new message senders, preventing the use of fake sender names, holding accountable companies that fail to verify messaging services, and blocking scam messages during transmission. For person-to-person scams, the proposals suggest implementing volume limits for pay-as-you-go SIM cards to restrict mass messaging, utilizing scam reports to block fraudulent numbers, and helping network operators identify and block scam communications.
Members of the public can report scam texts to the number 7726, enabling mobile operators to track and respond to scam activities effectively.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62ew4559zqo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss