Finland created a method to prevent phone scams, and the criminals backed down [Telecom operator Elisa learned to recognize spoofed caller IDs and replaced them with “unknown number”. Scam attempts have fell 90%]. (Paywalled article, in Finnish)

2 comments

1. English summary:

   Elisa developed a way to identify scam calls. In July–August 2021, Elisa observed that up to 90 percent of incoming international call traffic was made using spoofed numbers.

   Initially, the company changed numbers identified as scam calls to appear as “unknown.” The volume of scam calls dropped to 10 percent.

   After Elisa began displaying scammers’ numbers as unknown, the criminals stopped calling shortly after 8 a.m. Calls were no longer answered, so the scammers gave up.

   “Based on criminal proceeds statistics, those using this method obtained a total of 7.1 million euros in 2020 and 2021. After our method was introduced, the amount fell the following year to just a few thousand euros,” says Karri Jäkkö, Head of Elisa’s Cyber Security and Service Management Center.

   Jäkkö does not want to explain the system in too much detail, as that would be too useful for criminals.
   “We detect when a call enters Elisa’s network from abroad. We then check whether the number is actually in use, where the subscription is located, and other details, based on which we assess whether the call may be a scam.”

   The solution is now also covered by an international patent owned by Elisa, and the company offers it as a commercial service to foreign operators.

   Elisa decided to share its idea with Traficom (Finnish Transport and Communications Agency) and other operators. The idea was that if all operators used the method, scam calls would stop altogether.

   Based on Elisa’s model, Traficom created a national framework for preventing scam calls. The regulation entered into force in 2023 and requires all operators to use the same method.

2. I am from India and Airtel the largest telecom operator has started this. Callers are marked as spam / fraud as soon as it shows up in my phone. They do this even for numbers which are local to India not just scams being run from Pakistan and Dubai.

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