Mobile networks will be required to block scam texts before they reach your phone under new rules finalised by Ofcom. The measures target both criminals sending messages from ordinary SIM cards and organised operations impersonating banks, delivery companies and government departments through business messaging services.
For scams sent from regular mobile numbers, providers must collect reports about suspicious messages, links and telephone numbers, then use that information to block offending numbers and intercept related texts travelling across their networks. PAYG SIMs will also face volume limits, making it harder and more expensive to send thousands of messages at once.
Business messaging will face more extensive checks. Mobile operators and the companies carrying bulk messages must verify who is opening an account, monitor what they subsequently send and investigate suspicious activity. They’ll also have to check that a sender using a familiar name really represents that organisation, preventing a scammer from dropping a fake parcel message into the same conversation as genuine delivery updates.
Image credit: Ofcom
The famous, bulging Ofcom office building, viewed from Southwark Bridge, London
Scam calls from abroad face tighter checks too
Ofcom has also strengthened its guidance covering international calls that disguise themselves using UK mobile numbers. Telecoms companies should now hide the caller’s number when a call appears to come from a UK mobile roaming abroad, unless they can confirm it’s genuine. Withheld numbers can still belong to legitimate callers, however, so this won’t make every hidden call fraudulent.
The scale of the problem explains why network-level intervention is needed. Four in ten UK mobile users told Ofcom they had received at least one suspicious message during the previous three months, while mobile operators already block more than 600 million suspected scam messages each year. UK Finance separately estimates that £1.28 billion was stolen through payment fraud during 2025, although that figure covers fraud from every source rather than text scams alone.
The rules covering ordinary person-to-person texts take effect on 18 January 2027, while the more complicated business messaging requirements follow on 15 July 2027. You can already forward suspicious texts to 7726 free of charge, allowing your mobile provider to investigate the sender. If you’ve lost money or had an account hacked, the incident should also be reported to Report Fraud or, in Scotland, Police Scotland.
