The initial data was encouraging. The November 19th Agcom has launched the second phase of its operation against scam calls. The Communications Regulatory Authority has worked on a block with which all calls coming from abroad pretending to originate from are filtered numbers registered in Italy. A process that is technically called spoofing. On August 19th the filter blocked the calls from landlines. November 19th was the time for those coming from mobile.
After a week, a press release from Agcom arrived to put the results data in line. According to mobile network operators between November 19th and 21st they were blocked approx 7.46 million phone calls per day. In recent days, however, we have begun to receive several reports from users who report one thing: while the flow of calls with Italian numbers has decreased, that of phone calls coming from outside remained unchanged. On the contrary. Maybe it has even increased.
Where anti-spoofing filters stop
Agcom filters have a limit, as we had already explained. These work well for numbers that mask their origin but cannot be applied to calls that they arrive directly from abroad. Indeed, Agcom itself explained that once calls that use spoofing techniques have been blocked, those arriving from abroad could increase without masking the number:
Because you continue to receive calls from telemarketers, even with the filter activated
“The phenomenon is also shifting to calls from abroad with international numbers, which cannot be blocked, on the basis of the current regulatory framework. In this regard, it is necessary to inform citizens to pay maximum attention to such calls, when contracts and services of various kinds are offered”.
Not only that. Again according to Agcom, the risk is that a increase in spoofed calls who arrive from Italy. In this case, changing the telephone number is not used to hide the origin of the calls but to contact the same user several times, pretending to be a different contact each time.
