From the November 19th the second step of the Agcom plan to combat unwanted calls will come into force. After the first block in August, which prevented call centers from masking landline numbers, a new measure now arrives: they will Calls from abroad using spoofed Italian mobile numbers are also blocked.
The first block: stop disguised landline numbers
The first intervention, active since August 19thintroduced a system of anti-spoofing filters to prevent call centers from hiding the true identity of the number. Spoofing, in fact, allows a number to appear different from the real one, making it impossible to trace the origin of the call.
This first step only concerned the fixed usersbut it hasn’t completely eliminated the problem: suspicious calls continue to appear in the address books of millions of users.
From November 19th: mobile numbers also blocked
The second phase expands the range of the filters. Starting from November 19thtelephone operators will have to stop all calls from abroad which show a Italian prefixboth landline and mobile, if the number does not really belong to a roaming user.
In practice, if a call comes from a foreign call center but appears as a normal Italian number, it will come automatically blocked before reaching the recipient.
What “spoofing” means and why it’s a problem
The term spoofing indicates the manipulation of a sender’s identity, whether on the internet or on the telephone. In telemarketing, this technique is used to make a call seem more “reliable” or make it untraceable the real number.
Foreign call centers often use this strategy to make the user believe they are receiving a call from Italy, thus increasing the chances of them answering.
How the block will be enforced
Agcom has clarified that the block will be managed directly by telephone operatorswithout the need for any action from customers.
Operators will have to prevent the transmission in Italy of calls with Italian numbers that come from abroad, unless the caller is actually a roaming user.
Expected effects and application times
Although the measure is significant, concrete results they could only see each other in the next few months. The authorities hope to further reduce nuisance calls, but it will take time to verify the impact.
However, this new block is part of a broader plan to combat aggressive telemarketing, which also includes the Register of Oppositionsalready operational for some time.
