Telecoms watchdog Ofcom has said that it will not issue any more telephone numbers beginning with the code 070 from the end of the year.
The move is a response to prevent scammers using the numbers, which look like mobile telephone numbers. All mobile phone numbers in the UK begin with 07.
Typically, an email will be spammed out to multiple recipients and if any of them phone the 070 number contained in the email, they would be asked for financial details by someone claiming to be a bank official.
However, the 070 numbers can be bought by anyone and operated from anywhere in the world. The numbers have proved so troublesome that Ofcom has decided to phase them out.
"There have been a number of cases where providers have run 'scams' by exploiting the poor awareness of this range and the prices charged," Ofcom said in its Raising confidence in telephone numbers report.
The 070 numbers were initially introduced as 'personal' telephone numbers, by the scheme has had little impact as it has been blighted by a lack of public awareness. Ofcom has now earmarked numbers beginning with 06 to meet demand for personal telephone numbers in future.
In January, Web User reported a scam using this tactic, which came hidden in an email that told recipients they had won a lottery prize.
"With 070 numbers, callers have no way to determine where their call ends up. They may think they are speaking to an official in London, when really they're on the phone to a scammer in Lagos," said Graham Cluley of security firm Sophos.
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/ http://www.sophos.com/
Topic: Ofcom steps in to end 070 scams (Read 509 times)