Agcom’s new crackdown against scam calls comes into force on 19 November. Automatic filters and real-time checks promise to reduce annoying phone calls and contracts activated without citizens’ knowledge.
Phase 2 of the battle against wild telemarketing is underway. The second part of Agcom’s anti-spoofing plan comes into force which promises to significantly reduce the number of harassing phone calls, fake numbers and contracts activated without users’ knowledge. A step awaited by millions of citizens, forced every day to navigate aggressive offers, scams and attempts to acquire personal data with increasingly sophisticated methods. A phenomenon with huge numbers: 15 billion phone calls in a year and a turnover estimated at at least 3 billion euros. And enormous damage for users, especially in the electricity and gas sector, where contractual fraud entails additional costs of between 10% and 20% for millions of families, with an overall impact worth around 2 billion euros per year. But even if the first filters that came into force in August significantly reduced fraudulent calls and we are now moving on to phase two, the ability of illegal call centers to reinvent themselves and the enormous volume of circulating data make a definitive solution difficult. How to defend yourself? The real barrier remains the user: informed, attentive and not inclined to trust the first ring.
War on wild telemarketing: phase 2 begins with a farewell to fake “mobile” numbers coming from abroad
After the first crackdown on 19 August, which hit fake Italian fixed numbers, the new intervention concerns the blocking of calls arriving from abroad that use falsified Italian mobile numbers. A widespread practice: software capable of generating apparently normal numbers, often identical to those of real users, which make it difficult to understand whether the caller is an authorized operator or an offshore exchange. In fact, from 19 November, every call coming from abroad and presented as an Italian mobile number will be subjected to immediate verification. The system will check its existence, the reference operator via the national portability database and above all the actual position of the user, so as to understand whether it is a truly roaming user or a cloneable number. Calls that fail the checks will be automatically blocked.
The filter perimeter is wide, including special numbers such as satellite numbers or those dedicated to machine-to-machine services. Not only that: operators who do not adopt the necessary tools to verify the legitimacy of roaming numbers within the established timeframe will have incoming foreign calls to Italy blocked. Until they comply, their roaming service will remain suspended. The first results of the plan are encouraging. According to Altroconsumo, at the end of August the calls judged fraudulent and blocked represented 5% of the total. Now they are down to 1%. A clear signal: filtering calls is possible, and it works. But it’s not enough.
Because unwanted phone calls won’t disappear completely
Despite the new crackdown, unwanted calls will not disappear completely: Codacons warns that calls from regular Italian call centers and many calls from abroad with non-Italian numbers will continue to pass through. Furthermore, falsified Italian numbers generated by exchanges that physically operate in Italy remain difficult to block. Meanwhile, illegal call centers are constantly changing their strategy, exploiting VoIP technologies and personal data obtained from leaks or superficial consent. Thus scams, often disguised as false “blocked contracts”, continue to strike especially when users are distracted.
Telemarketing: how to protect yourself from scams
Filters and blocks are a great help, but the real defense remains in the hands of consumers. Registration in the public register of objections is the first useful tool for limiting the number of legitimate telephone calls, because it cancels all consent previously granted to marketing activities. Membership is free and can be done online, by telephone or via email form. Once completed, it takes approximately fifteen days to become fully operational. It should be remembered, however, that any new consent given after registration can reopen the doors to call centers: in that case, the only solution is to revoke it or renew membership in the Registry.
Then there are anti-spam apps, which use public databases to identify suspicious numbers. Or you can rely on the integrated functions of smartphones, which allow you to automatically silence calls from unknown numbers or ones not saved in the address book. Some telephone operators also offer specific filters to block nuisance calls, sometimes free, sometimes for a fee.
The basic strategy is always one: never provide personal data during a call. No serious operator will ask for card numbers, customer codes or banking details over the phone. Furthermore, a verbally acquired contract is not valid until the customer receives and signs the confirmation email sent by the supplier. Even in the presence of the first bills, if that email does not exist, the contract is considered null and void.
In the event of particularly insistent or suspicious phone calls, it is always possible to report it to the Privacy Guarantor or to the Competition and Market Authority. And, above all, it is always best to avoid answering unknown numbers: many automatic calling systems eliminate or reduce attempts made to those who do not answer, classifying that number as “not active”.
