The UK is the world's number one target for phone scams: 15% of the world's fraudulent telecom traffic is destined for UK numbers, according to a new study. BICS, a subsidiary of Belgian telecommunications company Proximus, explains that its FraudGuard platform is analyzing traffic from more than 900 communications providers around the world and has revealed that the UK is the only G20 country in the top 10, with 25 million fraudulent calls in 2018. He added that the number of appeal attempts in the world increased by 2% last year, and telecom fraud led to losses exceeding €30 billion worldwide.
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"The results... illustrate the persistent and damaging threat of telecom fraud in the sector, while continuing to support serious organized crime," said Katia González, Fraud Prevention Officer. "The eradication of telecom fraud is an ongoing fight that can only be achieved with the collaboration of the entire industry. The sharing of information and knowledge will enable the industry to take a proactive approach to minimize fraud and protect subscribers in the UK UK and worldwide." One of the reasons given for the popularity of the UK as a target is the regulation of telephone numbers. According to BICS, the ease with which anyone can buy an "07" number for mobile phones, combined with higher mobile termination rates, prevent operators from differentiating between regular and fraudulent numbers. This exposes the end user to the possibility of being inadvertently connected to a premium rate phone number. "The UK is a longtime target for telecom fraud, both in terms of phone numbers being used to collect fraudulent traffic and subscribers," Gonazalez added.- Here are the best mobile deals of July 2019