New rules that will make phone networks block scam texts from reaching potential victims have been proposed by Britain’s communications watchdog.
Ofcom said these would "address current gaps in protection for consumers and businesses", and see scammers locked out by mobile networks.
Amy Jordan, Ofcom’s strategy delivery director, said: "Our plans will ensure that mobile firms consistently apply proven measures to thwart these crimes."
Ofcom is accepting feedback on its proposals until 28 January and expects to publish a final decision on the rules in the summer of 2026.
In the year to April 2025, Ofcom said 100 million messages were reported to network operators.
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The communications regulator said half of UK mobile phone users received a suspicious message between November 2024 and February 2025 via text or iMessage.
Announcing the planned changes, Ofcom said many phone providers have already taken significant action against scam texts - blocking as many as 600 million a year.
However, it said the new measures would give phone users further protections.
The communications regulator said scammers had two distinct methods of tricking victims.
The first method is person-to-person scams, which involve either pretending to be a family member or a friend, often in an emergency situation.
The other type are business messaging scams, pretending to be a business such as a delivery service, tricking people into clicking on fake links.
To tackle business messaging scams, Ofcom is proposing:
- Conducting upfront and ongoing due diligence checks on new business message senders
- Asking network providers to prevent the use of fake sender names
- Root out criminals who are using business messaging services and hold companies accountable that are not doing the proper checks
- Asking providers to block scam messages in transit
To tackle person-to-person messaging scams, Ofcom is proposing:
- Setting volume limits for pay-as-you-go SIM cards so it’s harder to send mass texts to a large number of potential victims
- Ask providers to use scam reports to block numbers used by scammers
- Asking network providers to identify and block scam messages being carried on their network
Members of the public are able to report scam texts to 7726, with mobile providers able to use these reports to monitor scam activity.
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