Ofcom says that almost 45 million people were targeted by scam calls and texts last summer and Ofcom has been supporting phone companies and working with other organisations on new ways to combat this threat.

Ofcom is proposing strengthened rules and guidance to combat number spoofing. All telephone networks involved in the transmission of a call will be expected to block numbers that are clearly spoofed. This rule would apply to all phone companies, ensuring the protection applies to millions of people.

Ofcom is also proposing new guidance to help companies prevent scammers from accessing valid phone numbers. This sets out clear expectations for phone companies to make sure they run “know your customer” checks on business customers, as part of the steps they should follow to stop their numbers being misused by fraudsters. To read Ofcom’s news release in full, click here. For more information on the proposed measures, click here.