The UK will become Europe’s first nation to ban equipment that can send thousands of scam text messages in the battle against cruel fraudsters.
People found with SIM farms – devices which hold several SIM cards – will face unlimited fines in England and Wales under new laws. Millions of unsuspecting victims receive con messages each year, with official data showing fraud cases are spiralling.
Fraud Minister Lord Hanson said: “Two-thirds of British adults say they’ve received a suspicious message on their phone – equivalent to more than 35 million people – which is why cracking down on SIM farms is so vital to protecting the public.
“This marks a leap forward in our fight against fraud and will provide law enforcement and industry partners the clarity they need to protect the public from this shameful crime.”
Figures show fraud shot up by 19% last year, accounting for 40% of all reported crime in England and Wales last year. The SIM farm ban will take effect six months after the Crime and Policing Bill becomes law, the Home Office said.
Industry leaders welcomed the move. Rachel Andrews, Head of Corporate Security at Vodafone UK, said: “As an industry, UK telecoms operators have blocked more than 1 billion suspected scam messages since 2023.
“However, we cannot fully tackle fraud in isolation, collaboration between industry and government is crucial.” And Nick Sharp, deputy director for fraud at the National Crime Agency, said: “We know that fraud at scale is being facilitated by SIM farms, which give criminals a means and an opportunity to contact victims at scale with relative ease.
“The ban announced today is very welcome. It will give us a vital tool to step up our fight against fraudsters, target the services they rely on, and better protect the public.”
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