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Telephones: Fraud

Answer

The most recent Ofcom research on the scale of spoofing calls reveals that in February 2025, two in five phone users said they received a suspicious call in the last three months. Tackling fraud and pursuing the criminals behind it is a priority for the government. We are working closely with industry and regulators to reduce spoofing and other forms of telecoms-enabled fraud.

In November 2025, the Government published the second Telecommunications Fraud Sector Charter, signed by major mobile network operators including BT EE, Virgin Media O2, and VodafoneThree. Through the Charter, signatories' committed to measures to tackle spoofing, including adopting common standards to reduce fraud and abuse across all network-originated messaging channels.

As the independent regulator, Ofcom also consulted in 2025 on proposals to strengthen rules on overseas calls that falsely present UK numbers, including updates to its Calling Line Identification Guidance. The Government supports this work and continues to engage with Ofcom and industry to protect customers. More recently, on 9 March 2026, the Home Office also published its new Fraud Strategy which sets out how the Government will work with all partners, including law enforcement and industry, to make the UK a much harder place for criminals to operate.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

129556

Session

2024-26

Subjects

Fraud Telephones

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk