Phone scams, a persistent menace in our digital age, pose unique challenges to law enforcement. Unraveling the complexities behind their resilience, we delve into the intricate web of technological loopholes and legal hurdles that make these scams so hard to combat.
Phone fraud has soared during the pandemic
In the 12 months to March 2021, phone call and text message fraud across England, Wales and Northern Ireland was up 83% from the previous year, according to consumer group Which?
- This was the biggest rise across all types of fraudulent attacks
- Criminals are able to make it look like their phone call or text is coming from the real number of a bank or delivery firm due to continuing vulnerabilities in the UK (and other countries’) telephone network systems
- The core of the problem is a telephone identification protocol called SS7
- SS7 tells the telephone network what number a user is calling or texting from, known as the “presentation number”.
Tackling these criminal scams requires efforts from a range of bodies
Ofcom is working with the police, industry, and NCSC to help tackle the problem
- International standards body, the IETF, developed protocols to prevent robo-calling
- US authorities have ordered operators to implement the protocols by the end of 2021, but Ofcom says UK providers can’t do so until networks are sufficiently upgraded
Text messages, including this legitimate one and many two-factor authentication messages, are sent using old technology
SS7 was developed assuming there would always be legitimate activity
- The only way to prevent text message scams is to enable telecoms firms to use AI to scan texts for links to fake websites before they are sent.
- However, privacy regulators are unlikely to ever agree to that
When it comes to fraudulent telephone calls, there has been a big increase in so-called “robo-calling”
automated voice calls in recent years.
- Call authentication systems do exist that can help stop them, and the UK’s telecommunications regulator Ofcom says it is consulting with the telecoms industry to see what can be implemented, and how soon.
