Foreign gangs cloning Brits’ numbers in sneaky phone scam that fools unsuspecting callers

FOREIGN gangs are cloning Brits’ phone numbers to con millions from the public. The crooks use spoofing tech to swap their overseas number for a UK mobile number. Foreign gangs are cloning Brits’ phone numbers to con millions from the public Credit: Getty Scammers are using spoofing tech to swap their overseas number for a UK mobile number Credit: Getty This then flashes up on victims’ phones when the fraudsters ring up. Brits are three times more likely to answer a call from an unknown UK mobile than a foreign number. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! Gangs try to con cash from those who pick up. The number of bank transfer scams beginning through phone and text networks rose from around 37,000 in 2023 to 42,000 last year, with victims losing roughly £161million. It is impossible to tell if they are all from spoofing. Warwick University security engineering scientist Professor Feng Hao said the Government is not doing enough to protect people. He added that regulator Ofcom “needs to take a much tougher stance”. Banking trade body UK Finance said spoofing is a “serious threat” and that the Government is not investing enough into tackling it. Most read in Money Sam, a plumber, told The Sun on Sunday he was getting up to 40 calls a day from angry strangers after con artists spoofed his number and used it to ring members of the public. He said: “I was baffled. I had people saying they thought I was a scammer.” Many of the fraud gangs are in South East Asia. Ofcom forces networks to block foreign calls pretending to come from UK landlines unless they can be proved legitimate. Mobiles are harder to tackle as genuine British numbers can appear to be from abroad. Ofcom said it will this month publish strengthened guidance for telecoms firms to stop foreign crooks calling people in Britain with spoof UK mobile numbers. Comment now