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06 November 2025
Major UK telecom providers — including BT (EE), Virgin Media (O2), Vodafone, Three, Tesco Mobile, TalkTalk, Sky (Sky Broadband), and the Communications Council UK — have signed a new Telecommunications Charter committing to a unified effort to crack down on scam calls and fraud. This initiative aims to strengthen national defenses, improve consumer protection, and support law enforcement efforts against telecom-related scams.
While many providers have already implemented measures to combat nuisance and scam calls, the new Charter formalises a collective commitment to enhance these efforts. Key initiatives include:
• Developing and deploying a UK Traceback Solution to trace the origin of suspicious or fraudulent calls across interconnected networks, supporting police investigations.
• Improving consumer awareness campaigns and reducing victim support response times to two weeks.
• Establishing scalable, collaborative data-sharing models between telecom, banking, and tech sectors to disrupt criminal networks.
• Blocking foreign call centers from impersonating banks within the next year.
• Expanding AI tools across providers to identify and block suspicious calls and texts more effectively.
UK Minister for Fraud, Lord Hanson, emphasised the government’s commitment, stating that within a year, call spoofing will be eliminated, making it harder for scammers to operate. The government also plans to deploy AI to further identify threats and protect consumers.
Industry representatives expressed strong support. Claire Gillies (BT), Rachel Andrews (Vodafone and Three), Murray Mackenzie (VMO2), and Tracey Wright (CCUK) highlighted ongoing efforts — such as blocking millions of scam texts daily, using AI for fraud detection, and fostering cross-sector collaboration — to make UK communications safer.
The new Charter aligns with the upcoming UK Fraud Strategy, which aims to unify industry and government in disrupting criminal activity and protecting the public from evolving scam tactics, including voice cloning and AI-generated impersonations. This collective approach aims to make the UK one of the hardest places for scammers to operate, providing increased trust and security in digital communications.
