Spanish government plans new measures to combat phone scams and limit telemarketing calls

Telephone scams "have become too common" with cybercriminals pretending to be a bank or a public administration, said the Minister of Digital Transformation, Óscar López

Raquel Merino

Malaga

Tuesday, 22 October 2024, 09:54

Telephone scams involving cybercriminals pretending to call from banks or public administrations are becoming "too common" in Spain, according to the minister for digital transformation Óscar López.

One out of every three queries handled by the 017 telephone number of the Incibe national institute of cybersecurity (Incibe) is related to fraud carried out via SMS, telephone and email. As a result, the government is finalising a decree to limit the amount of unsolicited customer service and telemarketing calls people receive daily and to put a stop to fraud, committed both via phone calls and SMS text messages.

Among the measures presented by the minister in Congreso last week is the blocking of unsolicited customer service and telemarketing calls. The 800 and 900 numbers will be assigned for customer service and telemarketing calls, making it clear to people who is calling them. Other measures will include the blocking by operators of calls using numbers that have not been attributed to any service, assigned to any operator or allocated to any customer, as well as the blocking of calls and SMS from national numbers, but with international origin, "one of the most common sources of fraud", according to the government.

A database will also be created - to be managed by the CNMC national markets and competition commission - with users who use alphanumerics in their messages (such as the name of the company). "Messages from entities not included in this database will be blocked," the ministry pointed out.

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