UK Government and Industry Look to Tackle A2P SMS Messaging Fraud

The Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF), which is a global trade body that works to address issues affecting mobile networks, has met with the UK Government’s Home Office to discuss the future Telecom Fraud Charter (TFC) and how they can improve the progress being made in tackling Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS text messaging fraud.

Just to recap. The voluntary fraud sector charter for telecommunications has been around for a few years now and essentially commits member providers to tackle the risk of fraud and scams against UK customers, as well as their own networks. This charter was originally supported by BT, EE, Sky (Sky Broadband, Sky Mobile etc.), TalkTalk, Three UK, Tesco Mobile, Vodafone, Virgin Media and O2.

The MEF also has its own self-regulatory framework in the form of their Business SMS Code of Conduct, which establishes standards for all entities involved in Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS messaging. This aims to protect consumers, while also ensuring ethical and commercial responsibility. The Code addresses message content, timing, data privacy, fraud prevention, and compliance, and it outlines the roles and responsibilities of industry players.

However, it appears as if the UK Government is now working toward helping finalise a new Telecom Fraud Charter, which could surface around the end of this summer. Suffice to say that there’s thus some benefit to be found in a collaboration between the Home Office in the UK and the MEF, which is intended to improve “coordinated action against telecoms fraud“. But it remains to be seen what the final outcome will be.

Key points discussed during the recent panel included:

* Close collaboration between the Home Office and MEF.

* Inclusion of the Home Office on the Code of Conduct Dispute Committee, which adjudicates disputes between signatories.

* Review of Code of Conduct violations by the Home Office and considering a public mention/report on violators.

* The timeline for finalizing the Charter is August/September 2025.

* Home Office consulting with Mobile Operators and business messaging companies such as CPaaS providers and aggregators.

* Home Office working closely with United Kingdom law enforcement, Ofcom and NCSC to ensure alignment and explore strategies for enforcement.

Speaking of Ofcom, the UK regulator only recently proposed to cap the wholesale price charged by mobile network operators (here) for the delivery of automated text messages (A2P SMS), which are widely used by business and organisations across the public and private sectors. But that has less to do with tackling fraud/scams and more to do with rebalancing the market.