Telia reports significant decrease in scam calls in Finland during summer months

Telia, the major telecommunications operator in Finland, has reported a significant decrease in scam calls originating from abroad during the summer months. According to the company, approximately 2.5 million fraudulent calls were blocked in June and July alone. In May, Telia was blocking an average of 11,300 scam calls per day.

Kristian Westerstråhle, Telia’s security director, stated that a technical solution implemented at the end of last year has been effective in helping operators combat these scam calls. “This was evidently noticed by the scammers as well, since the number of scam call attempts decreased significantly. May was the quietest month, but the summer has again seen a surge in scam call activities,” Westerstråhle explained.

In response to the growing threat of scam calls, Finland’s traffic and communications agency, Traficom, has mandated operators to take action against incoming fraudulent calls. A new regulation that came into effect in October requires operators to prevent the spoofing of Finnish mobile phone numbers, further enhancing consumer protection against scams.