Scam Texts Are Getting a Regulatory Crackdown in 2026
If your phone has buzzed with a dodgy delivery text or a “your account has been suspended” message this year, you’re not alone. Ofcom reckons 40% of UK mobile users received at least one suspicious message in just the last three months, and fraud now accounts for an estimated 45% of all reported crime in England and Wales.
Criminals stole roughly £1.28 billion through fraud in 2025. Scam texts are a big part of how that starts, a fake link, a fake sender, a moment of doubt that costs someone real money. From 15 July 2026, Ofcom has put new rules in place to make networks do more of the heavy lifting.
The rules split fraud into two rough categories: person to person scam texts sent from an ordinary SIM, and mass scam texts pushed out through commercial business messaging systems pretending to be a bank, a delivery firm or a government department. Both get tackled under the same package.
What Are Ofcom’s New Rules on Scam Texts?
Mobile networks and messaging aggregators now have to actively collect intelligence on scam texts, dodgy links and suspicious numbers, both from customers reporting them and from anti fraud organisations, then use that intelligence to detect and block scam texts before they reach you.
There’s also a new requirement for “Know Your Customer” checks on businesses sending bulk texts through commercial messaging systems. That’s aimed at the mass scam text operations that piggyback on legitimate business messaging infrastructure, rather than the one off scam text from a random number.
Why Did Ofcom Target Scam Texts Now?
Because the old approach wasn’t working fast enough. Scam texts have gotten more convincing, spoofing real delivery firms, banks and even government departments, and criminals adapt their wording faster than most people can learn to spot the fakes.
Rather than relying purely on public awareness campaigns, Ofcom’s approach puts the burden on the networks that carry scam texts across their infrastructure, treating it as a network responsibility rather than solely a customer vigilance problem.
What Changes for Spoofed Calls?
Alongside scam texts, Ofcom has also tightened rules on spoofed calls, ones that show a UK mobile number on your screen but actually originate abroad. Networks must now withhold the caller ID on international calls presenting as a UK mobile number unless they can verify it’s genuine.
That closes a trick fraudsters have used for years: making a scam call look like it’s coming from a familiar UK number, or even your own bank’s real customer service line, to lower your guard before the pitch.
Scam texts and spoofed calls often work together as a pair. A text arrives first to soften you up, then a follow up call from what looks like a trusted number tries to close the deal. Disrupting either half of that combination makes the whole scam harder to pull off.
What networks must now do about scam texts
- Collect and act on scam text intelligence from customers and anti fraud bodies
- Detect and block malicious links and numbers before texts are delivered
- Run Know Your Customer checks on bulk business message senders
- Withhold caller ID on spoofed international calls impersonating UK numbers
Does This Mean You Can Stop Worrying About Scam Texts?
No, and Ofcom isn’t pretending otherwise. Scam texts will keep evolving, and network level blocking catches known patterns, not every new trick on day one. Basic habits still matter: don’t tap links in unexpected texts, and go directly to a company’s official app or website if you think a message might be genuine.
What’s changed is that the burden no longer sits entirely on you to spot every scam text yourself. If a network’s blocking systems are working as intended, a decent chunk of scam texts should never reach your phone in the first place.
It’s also worth checking your own phone’s built in filtering. Most smartphones can flag messages from unknown senders separately from your main inbox, and combining that with network level blocking gives you two layers instead of relying on either alone.
If you’re also dealing with suspicious calls or texts while abroad, it’s worth pairing this with our guide on avoiding roaming charges when travelling, since scam activity and unexpected charges often show up around the same trip.
And if persistent nuisance messages are part of why you’re considering a network switch, our guide on switching mobile network and keeping your number covers the practical side of moving without losing touch with anyone.
Roo’s take: no filter catches everything, but a network doing the blocking for you beats squinting at every text wondering if it’s real.
Frequently asked questions about scam texts
- What are Ofcom’s new rules on scam texts?
- From 15 July 2026, UK mobile networks and messaging aggregators must actively detect and block scam texts using shared intelligence, and run Know Your Customer checks on bulk business message senders.
- Will scam texts stop completely now?
- No. The rules aim to block a significant share of known scam texts before delivery, but new scam patterns will keep appearing, so basic caution with unexpected links still matters.
- What is a spoofed call, and does this cover it?
- A spoofed call shows a UK mobile number that isn’t genuine, often to make a scam call look local and trustworthy. Networks must now withhold caller ID on unverified international calls presenting as UK numbers.
- What should I do if I get a scam text?
- Don’t tap any link. Most UK networks let you forward suspicious texts to 7726 for free, which helps flag the sender for blocking, and you can report it to Action Fraud if money or personal details were involved.
- Do these scam text rules apply to all UK mobile networks?
- Yes, Ofcom’s rules apply across UK mobile networks and the messaging aggregators that carry bulk business texts on their behalf.
Scam texts aren’t going away overnight, but for the first time, the networks carrying them have a clear regulatory reason to actually stop them rather than just warn you about them.
