Under a new agreement called the Telecoms Charter, Britain’s largest mobile carriers have formally partnered with the government and law enforcement to aggressively combat rising fraud, which currently accounts for 50% of all UK crime. The core commitment requires carriers—including BT EE, Virgin Media O2, Vodafone Three, Tesco Mobile, TalkTalk, and Sky—to completely eliminate the ability of scammers to spoof phone numbers within one year by upgrading their network infrastructure. This major technological overhaul will strip away a primary tool used by criminals to deceive the public with fake identities and false promises, according to Minister for Fraud Lord Hanson, who emphasized the goal is to make the UK the most challenging place in the world for scammers to operate.
This wide-ranging agreement includes several critical technical and operational mandates designed to bolster national defenses against sophisticated scams. Specifically, the carriers must upgrade their networks to clearly indicate to users and other network components when an incoming call originates from abroad. This directly addresses the current tactic where fraudsters exploit the fact that 96% of mobile users check caller ID, often spoofing local UK numbers to bypass the caution associated with unknown international calls. Furthermore, the commitment includes the implementation of advanced call tracing technology across all mobile networks, which the UK Home Office confirmed will provide police with crucial intelligence necessary to track down and dismantle scam operations throughout the country.
Beyond technical fixes, the Telecoms Charter establishes new standards for data sharing and transparency among all partners. Carriers have agreed to significantly boost data sharing with law enforcement, which will help to expose and hold accountable any mobile networks that are failing to effectively block fraudulent calls. This increased intelligence sharing aims to empower consumers while simultaneously making it much harder for scam attempts to go unnoticed within the mobile ecosystem. The measure is intended to create a spotlight effect on the communication channels that criminals use to exploit citizens.
The signatories to the Charter have also committed to substantial improvements in the support infrastructure for individuals who fall victim to scams. This victim-focused component includes a firm commitment to reduce response times for addressing fraud cases down to a maximum of two weeks. To ensure accountability and effectiveness, the carriers will establish and meet measurable goals for delivering prompt and comprehensive assistance to those affected by fraud. This signals a shift toward not only prevention but also faster, more effective resolution and recovery for victims.
Major carriers have already demonstrated success in proactive scam prevention, validating the potential of the new collective effort. For example, the director of fraud prevention at Virgin Media O2 reported that the company has already blocked over 1 billion scam texts and uses AI to flag approximately 50 million suspicious calls every month. Similarly, Vodafone Three’s corporate security and fraud director confirmed that the network blocks millions of fraudulent calls and scam texts daily. These efforts will be formalized and amplified across the entire sector under the new Telecoms Charter, ensuring a coordinated, sector-wide defense against the persistent threat of mobile fraud.
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