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Articles for Category Tag - Crime

Luton Road near Toddington in Bedfordshire Google Maps Screenshot

Theft of Openreach’s UK broadband cables in Bedfordshire disrupts M1 traffic signs

7th November, 2026 (4 Comments)

Broadband and phone connectivity across a sizeable part of Bedfordshire in England, including the overhead gantry signs between junctions 12 and 13 on the M1, have suffered “extensive” disruption after criminals ripped up and stole some of Openreach’s core copper telecoms cables on part of Luton Road, near the town of Toddington.

Vodafone UK and NCA help police smash criminal SIM farm networks

3rd November, 2026 (2 Comments)

Broadband and mobile operator VodafoneThree (Vodafone and Three UK) has revealed that they recently worked alongside the National Crime Agency (NCA) and City of London Police to help identify and disrupt criminal SIM farm networks in “one of the largest hauls ever recovered” – resulting in 8 arrests and more.

Internet Danger Websites with Scam Ads and Malware

O2 UK deploys free AI-powered scam call protection for all customers

30th October, 2026 (1 Comment)

Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has this morning announced that, following a successful trial earlier this autumn, they’ve now rolled out a free, AI-powered scam call protection service for all customers based on technology from existing partner Hiya. Over 3 million malicious calls a week are now expected to be blocked in real time from reaching customers’ phones.

copper vs fibre optic openreach engineer

Copper cable thieves strike Essex town and disrupt Openreach’s broadband

27th October, 2026 (1 Comment)

More than 2,000 metres of Openreach’s older copper broadband and phone cable has been stolen from around the Essex (England) town of South Woodham Ferrers, which is home to a population of c.16,000. The criminal activity is understood to have caused “significant disruption” to local telecoms services for homes and businesses.

Copper cable thieves cause Openreach broadband outage in Thurnscoe UPDATE

20th October, 2026 (4 Comments)

A criminal gang has caused a significant broadband and phone outage for thousands of customers on Openreach’s UK network around the large South Yorkshire (England) village of Thurnscoe. The problems occurred after the thieves damaged the local network while they were dragging the operator’s copper telecoms cables out of the ground.

Error message concept. Alert, attention notification. Important reminder

Virgin Media O2 UK warns customers of rise in recruitment scams

15th October, 2026 (0 Comments)

Broadband and mobile operators Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) have this morning warned customers that they’ve seen a rise in recruitment scams, which have now entered their top 10 list of the most reported scam types across their UK network. The warning comes as almost 1 million 16–24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training – making them prime targets for such scams.

Ofcom UK probe Vonage and Voxbone after scammers misuse phone numbers

24th September, 2026 (7 Comments)

The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today opened two separate investigations into cloud and VoIP phone providers Vonage (Vonage Business Limited) and Voxbone SA – here and here, which centres on a concern that telephone numbers held by the companies are being “misused, including to perpetrate scams“.

Email users of broadband ISP BT suffer barrage of password reset messages UPDATE

16th September, 2026 (7 Comments)

Some customers of BT’s UK broadband packages, specifically those that also make use of their included Email platform, have recently begun complaining about receiving hundreds of unsolicited password reset messages (sometimes as many as 1,000 TXTs) – each containing a onetime four digit PIN code to verify their BTInternet mail account.

phone_voip_and_handset by 123RF ID 70258122

Comms Council UK publish data-sharing guidance for tackling telephone fraud

16th September, 2026 (1 Comment)

The Comms Council UK, which represents the national Unified Communications and Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) phone industry, has this morning published its data-sharing guidance – produced with support from the Home Office, Ofcom, and Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – for tackling telephone-enabled fraud (e.g. scam calls and messages).

Doorstep seller hand knocking on UK door by Copilot for MJackson 20260904

Warning over fake “government” doorstep broadband sellers in Norfolk UK

4th September, 2026 (1 Comment)

The Norfolk County Council‘s (NCC) Trading Standards department has issued a new “Cold Calling Alert” that warns local people to be on the lookout after several cases of fake doorstep sellers trying to peddle broadband services were reported in the region.

Lancashire Man Sent to Prison for Operating Rogue UK Cell Phone Tower

3rd September, 2026 (10 Comments)

The City of London Police (CLP) have revealed that Mohammed Faiyaz Iqbal (43) of Preston in Lancashire has been sentenced to more than 3 years and 8 months in prison for setting up a rogue cell phone tower, which was then used to bypass mobile network security protocols in order to send masses of fraudulent texts (aka – SMS Blaster).

Openreach damaged copper and fibre cables

Vandals Attack Openreach’s Broadband Network in Bedminster and Chippenham

26th August, 2026 (9 Comments)

National network operator Openreach has revealed that their UK broadband and phone network suffered “malicious damage” across two separate incidents in Bedminster (District of Bristol) and Chippenham (Wiltshire) on Monday. This disrupted connectivity to local homes and businesses in the area.

Copper Cable Thieves Knock Out Broadband Near St Neots for a Third Time

7th August, 2026 (4 Comments)

A criminal gang has, for a third time since the start of last year (see here and here), this week disrupted Openreach’s broadband services around part of the Cambridgeshire (England) town of St Neots by stealing 500 metres worth of the UK network operator’s local copper telecoms cables.

Ofcom Rejected More Effective Method of Blocking UK Messaging Scams

17th July, 2026 (3 Comments)

Earlier this week Ofcom introduced new measures to help UK mobile operators “block, limit and disrupt scammers” from sending messaging scams (here). The changes, while positive, overlooked the fact that the regulator ended up rejecting an already adopted (in other countries) and UK developed fix that would have been more effective, partly due to BT and others complaining that it would be too “onerous“.

Cifas Joins Global Signal Exchange to Help UK Telecoms Providers Tackle Scams

16th July, 2026 (0 Comments)

The UK’s fraud prevention service, Cifas, which is home to over 775 members including major telecoms providers such as Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2), BT, Sky Broadband and more, has joined the Global Signal Exchange (GSE) to “strengthen the global fight against” online scams by collaborating to identify, disrupt, and prevent online scams at scale across borders and sectors.

Virgin Media O2 Publish First Quarterly Scam Index to Track UK Scam Calls and Texts

15th July, 2026 (0 Comments)

Broadband and mobile operator VMO2 (Virgin Media and O2) have today decided to complement Ofcom’s new anti-scam rules for telecoms providers (here) by publishing their first quarterly Scam Index, which among other things reveals that more than 18.5 million adults in the UK have been targeted by scammers in just three months.

Ofcom Introduce New UK Rules to Tackle Mobile Messaging Scams UPDATE

15th July, 2026 (7 Comments)

The UK internet content, telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has this morning published a “comprehensive package of practical measures” to help UK mobile network operators “block, limit and disrupt scammers” from sending messaging scams. In addition, they’ve strengthened rules to help protect people from international calls that imitate – or “spoof” – UK mobile numbers.