“In 2024, just under half of UK landline users (48%) said they’d received a suspicious call in the last three months,” Ofcom said.
“A common tactic used by criminals to defraud victims is to imitate or “spoof” phone numbers from a trusted person, organisation, or government department, so their calls are more likely to be answered,” it added.
The new blocking measures would have a “significant impact” on protecting the public from scam calls, Ofcom said.
A recent study of around 2,000 people suggested some were receiving on average two fraudulent calls a day. The study also showed that over-75s were particularly vulnerable to scammers.
“Scam calls can result in significant financial and emotional harm to victims. They can also lead to a reduction in trust in telephone calls,” said Ofcom’s Lindsey Fussell.
Ofcom’s tightening of the rules comes after a period of consultation, external.
The watchdog said that as part of a voluntary exercise during that time, BT was already preventing “up to one million calls per day”.
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