New rules will force mobile networks to block scam texts

Ofcom has finalised a set of rules that will require mobile networks to block scam text messages. None of them take effect until 2027.

What networks will have to do

The rules work differently depending on how a scam text was sent.

Some are sent from an ordinary SIM card, the same way a person texts you. For these, networks will have to:

• Limit how many messages a pay-as-you-go customer can send.
• Block numbers known to be sending scams.
• Block messages containing web links or phone numbers that have been reported as fraudulent.

Others are sent in bulk through business messaging systems, the same way a company sends a delivery update or a security code. Before anyone can send bulk texts, the provider handling them has to:

• Establish who the sender actually is.
• Confirm a named senior person responsible for the messages.
• Check that the name shown on the text matches the business sending it.

Ofcom can fine a provider up to 10% of annual turnover, order it to compensate people who lost money because it failed to comply, and suspend its right to operate. Ofcom has also said it may pose as a new business customer to test whether a provider’s checks work in practice.

When the rules start

Ofcom published the decision on 15 July 2026. Networks have until 18 January 2027 to comply with the rules on texts sent from SIM cards, and until 15 July 2027 for those sent through business messaging systems.

What the rules do not cover

The rules cover text messages sent over mobile networks. They do not cover messages sent over WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or other apps that use the internet.

They also do not cover messages from devices known as SMS blasters, which pretend to be a phone mast and push texts straight onto nearby phones. Those messages never cross a network, so the networks cannot block them. Ofcom says stopping them needs regulators and law enforcement to work together.

What Ofcom decided not to do

Some texts show a name at the top instead of a phone number. Whoever sends the message chooses that name. Under the new rules, providers have to check that the name shown on the text matches the business sending it.

The alternative is a single register of those names, held by the regulator, so only a verified organisation can send messages under its own name. Australia and Singapore already have one. Ofcom decided against it.

In its statement, Ofcom accepts that a register “could be particularly effective in preventing brand impersonation tactics used by scammers”. But it decided that asking providers to check names was enough, and cheaper than a register.

The consumer group Which? argued for one, giving the example of Australia, whose government estimated the cost to its telecoms industry at about £10.7 million a year. Which? said that was less than 1% of annual UK telecoms revenue, and worth paying given the harm that scams cause.

If your number gets blocked by mistake

Networks might block a legitimate message. Forwarding a scam link to warn a friend, for example, looks a lot like sending a scam. If your number or your message is blocked, you have a right to challenge it, and you can raise it with your own network even if a different one blocked it.

Three things to know:

• A network has no deadline for replying to you. It only has to decide within a “reasonable” time that it sets itself.
• If the network believes the message was a scam and you cannot show otherwise, it can keep your number or message blocked.
• Ofcom has not said that a challenge counts as a formal complaint. A formal complaint is what normally lets you take a dispute to an independent ombudsman.

What you can do now

Networks already block scam texts. They rely on reports from customers to spot them.

• Forward a suspicious text to 7726, free on every UK network.
• If you have lost money to a scam text in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland, report it to Report Fraud or call 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.

Until the business messaging rules take effect in July 2027, do not trust the name shown on a text. A text showing your bank’s name does not mean it came from your bank. If it asks you to move money or share a code, call the company yourself on a number you already have.