Phone number fraud to more than double by 2025

Complaints about phone number theft associated with fraudulent calls and messages have more than doubled this year, according to Anacom, which is advocating for changes to the law to curb these practices.

Contacted by Lusa, an official source from the electronic communications regulator revealed that in 2025 alone it received directly around 70 complaints about these practices, “more than double the number received during 2024 (around 30)”, adding that “around 75% of requests relating to “spoofing” were registered in the second quarter”.

This type of scam, known as "spoofing," involves using phone numbers assigned to real people—who have nothing to do with the fraud—to contact potential victims. Using these numbers, the perpetrators impersonate trustworthy companies, such as banks, payment platforms, or carriers, with the aim of deceiving those who answer.

The electronic communications regulator stated that in October 2024, it proposed to the previous government an amendment to the Electronic Communications Law to enable more effective combating of the phenomenon. The proposal includes "the inclusion of a provision to combat abusive practices associated with the spoofing of numbers or alphanumeric identifiers used in the calling line identification or the sender of a message," it detailed.

Anacom guarantees that, if the change is approved, it will “ensure verification of the implementation and compliance with the obligations arising therefrom for companies offering electronic communications services”.

The regulator emphasizes that spoofing is instrumental in committing other crimes (e.g., fraud, computer fraud, etc.) and that whenever user contacts indicate criminal activity, the situations are forwarded to the appropriate authorities.

To this end, it has been collaborating with the National Cybersecurity Center, the Judicial Police, communications operators, the Bank of Portugal, and representatives of the banking sector—one of the most targeted in these schemes—to find technical solutions to mitigate the problem.

In parallel, mitigation measures are being evaluated, such as blocking international calls with manipulated call identifiers or call authentication systems , similar to those implemented in other countries. However, "these initiatives result from actions under their respective national legislative frameworks and not from a common obligation within the European Union," explains Anacom.

Telecommunications operators, represented by Apritel, guarantee that they are closely monitoring the proliferation of criminal activity using the manipulation of message identifiers (spoofing).

The association points out that “this phenomenon comes from calls originating abroad, with manipulation of the “caller ID”, and, in this sense, it is not an activity for which operators can be held responsible”.

Still, it ensures that operators “work constantly to preserve the integrity and security of their networks, as well as their customers’ communications.”

Combating spoofing and all forms of fraud "is an issue that operators take seriously and give top priority to, which is why they are doing everything they can to mitigate the number of cases and their effects," Apritel guarantees.

To this end, a working group was set up within Anacom to strengthen collaboration between these entities and find the best possible solutions, he adds.

Within the scope of the working group, Apritel argues that “spoofing calls” should be systematically identified, such as calls originating abroad but with a national “caller ID”, anonymizing or even blocking these calls where telephone number usurpation is observed”.

To this end, “it is necessary to comply with the current legal framework and existing technical constraints and find a platform of understanding between the members of the working group that will allow, in the shortest possible time, the implementation of these mitigation measures”.