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Articles for Category Tag - Crime

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Ofcom UK Tackle Consumer Harm Caused by Cash for Calls Schemes

1st December, 2023 (4 Comments)

The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today launched a new consultation that looks set to tackle the risk of consumer harm from so-called “cash for calls” schemes. This will work by making clear that revenue sharing on certain phone number ranges (e.g. 084 and 087) will not be permitted.

Criminal Gang Cuts Down MS3 FTTP Broadband Poles in Hull UK UPDATE

20th November, 2023 (51 Comments)

A criminal gang has taken recent protests against MS3’s deployment of telecoms poles in parts of Hull (East Yorkshire), which are being used to carry the operator’s new full fibre broadband ISP network, to a disgusting new level over the weekend by using chainsaws to cut down several of the erections.

Virgin Media O2 and Ross Kemp Crafty Lager 7726

O2 UK Launch FREE Crafty Lager 7726 with Ross Kemp to Tackle Scams

15th November, 2023 (10 Comments)

Broadband ISP and mobile operator Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) have joined TV celebrity Ross Kemp to launch a new “limited-edition fraud-fighting beer” – Crafty Lager 7726, which will be offered for free and has been created to help get the nation talking about scams during International Fraud Awareness Week (12 – 18th November).

Lyca Mobile UK Confirm Personal Data Breached by Hackers

11th October, 2023 (26 Comments)

Mobile operator Lyca Mobile, which last week confirmed that it had been struck by a serious cyberattack that disrupted their systems and connectivity services across the UK (as well as in various other countries), has now confirmed that the hackers also “accessed at least some of the personal information held in our systems“.

Cable Thieves Knock Out Openreach Broadband in Rickmansworth UPDATE

6th October, 2023 (2 Comments)

Some 880 homes, businesses and schools in the Hertfordshire (England) town of Rickmansworth, which is home to a total population of over 25,000, have been left without a working fixed broadband ISP and phone service. The situation occurred after criminals damaged Openreach’s local network while attempting to steal their copper telecoms cable.

Lyca Mobile UK Confirm Cyber Attack Responsible for Disruption

3rd October, 2023 (75 Comments)

Mobile operator Lyca Mobile, which is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) on EE’s platform, has this afternoon revealed that the reason for their recent UK service (i.e. calls and texts not working for some customers) and support problems (here) is because the network has “been the victim of a cyber attack“.

EE UK Preps Upgrades to Enhance Anti-SPAM and SCAM Filters

21st September, 2023 (10 Comments)

Broadband ISP and mobile network operator EE (BT) has announced that it is in the process of updating their existing SCAM and SPAM blocking technologies, which should enable them to root out additional scam tactics (e.g. “Hi Mum, Hi Dad” scams) and help protect consumers from hard to spot scams.

Internet and UK Telecoms Security Picture

UK Court Convicts Lapsus$ Hacker for Breaching ISP BT and EE UPDATE

24th August, 2023 (16 Comments)

The Southwark Crown Court in London has today found an autistic Oxfordshire teenager, Arion Kurtaj (18), responsible for having hacked a number of major companies – including, among others, broadband ISP and mobile giant BT (EE)- while acting as a member of the wider Lapsus$ hacking group.

Doorstep Scammers Posing as Council Reps to Sell UK Broadband

18th August, 2023 (8 Comments)

Residents in the West Midland’s city of Wolverhampton have been warned by the local city council to be on the lookout for doorstep scammers, some of which have recently been posing as council employees in an attempt to entice people to switch their ISP for free broadband.

Mobile giant Vodafone UK and Sky (Comcast) have reportedly two among several "groups" that have approached budget conscious fixed broadband ISP TalkTalk about a potential deal (most likely an acquisition), which in theory could create a much larger provider with more influence over the industry. Just to recap. In 2020 TalkTalk became the subject of a £1.1bn takeover by Toscafund - controlled by hedge fund tycoon Martin Hughes (here), which including debt valued the broadband provider at around £1.8bn. The deal took the ISP private and gave them more financial flexibility for their future plans. Since then, they've backed Freedom Fibre (here) and this week made the notable acquisition of Ethernet provider Virtual1 (here). According to the FT (paywall) and Sky News, TalkTalk is now said to have asked investment bank Lazard to review its options after allegedly being approach by several groups, including Vodafone and Sky (Sky Broadband). Lazard is a logical choice as they recently acted as Financial Advisor to TalkTalk on the Virtual1 transaction. Some industry analysts have reportedly suggested that TalkTalk itself could now be worth "at least" £3bn. But this seems rather optimistic for an ISP that doesn't have any significant fixed line broadband infrastructure to call its own (excluding their old unbundled LLU network) and largely just piggybacks off Openreach (BT), CityFibre and Freedom Fibre. But TalkTalk do have a strong business and wholesale side. Funnily enough, Sky Broadband are in a similar position with their own fixed line base, while Vodafone also likes to piggyback off Openreach and CityFibre. At present, Vodafone has a fixed broadband base of 991,000 customers, while Sky Broadband is estimated to be home to around 6.7 million and TalkTalk has approximately 4.2 million. Suffice to say, anybody gobbling up TalkTalk would instantly become a much larger provider, giving them a greater say in how the UK broadband market develops and more opportunities for convergence (Vodafone with mobile, and Sky with mobile and TV). Crucially, TalkTalk's consumer base is mostly made up of those on older copper and hybrid fibre lines (i.e. ADSL and FTTC / VDSL2), which are ripe for a future migration to FTTP. At the time of writing, all of the aforementioned operators have decline to comment on the reports, and TalkTalk has yet to receive any serious formal offers. In other words, we strongly suspect that this is largely just an exercise in spin to help TalkTalk drum up some more productive interest in the idea. But at the same time, it's not unreasonable to suspect that they might succeed, as the interest seems genuine. On the other hand, we see reports like this every year or so and only a very few ever convert into a serious offer. Time will tell. Much may depend upon whether or not TalkTalk’s new owners are more flexible and pragmatic about doing a deal than the previous lot. Arguably, TalkTalk might have gone much further by now had they taken some different decisions a few years ago (e.g. co-investing in FTTP instead of Pay TV).

Complaints Prompt UK ISP TalkTalk to Suspend Doorstep Sellers in Newcastle

17th August, 2023 (4 Comments)

Budget focused broadband ISP TalkTalk has “suspended all door-to-door sales activity” in the Newcastle area after residents complained about cold calling occurring in parts of the city designated as a No Cold Calling Zone (NCCZ), which should be fairly self-explanatory to everybody, if not so much the sellers themselves, apparently.

Cable Thieves Leave Oxfordshire UK Village Offline for Nearly 2 Weeks

14th August, 2023 (23 Comments)

Some 400 homes across the rural Oxfordshire (England) village of Ardington have been left disconnected from their broadband and phone services for almost two weeks, which occurred after criminals stole more than 500 metres of underground copper cable from Openreach’s local network.

Error message concept. Alert, attention notification. Important reminder

Hiya – UK Remains the Worst Place in Europe for Call Fraud

10th August, 2023 (14 Comments)

The latest Q2 2023 data from caller ID verification firm Hiya, which among other things also works with UK broadband ISP BT (EE) to help detect and block SPAM and fraud calls, has revealed that 27.3% of UK calls from non-contacts are spam (79.3 million) and, of that figure, 18% were classified as “nuisance calls” and 9.3% were “fraud calls“.

Legal Opinion Warns of “unlawful” Clause in UK Online Safety Bill

19th July, 2023 (12 Comments)

The UK Government’s controversial new Online Safety Bill is facing more criticism today after Dan Squires KC and Emma Foubister of Matrix Chambers issued a legal opinion on its “prior restraint” clause. This suggests that there is “likely to be significant interference with freedom of expression that is unforeseeable and which is thus not prescribed by law“.

BT Reveal Cause of 999 Emergency UK Call Handling Outage

30th June, 2023 (25 Comments)

Broadband and telecoms giant BT has revealed that last Sunday’s outage and disruption to their 999 emergency services number, which resulted in 11,470 unique emergency calls being “unsuccessfully connected“, was caused by a “complex software issue” that had never previously been seen through their testing regime.

Cable Thieves Continue to Attack Openreach’s Cambridgeshire Network

28th June, 2023 (21 Comments)

The Cambridgeshire Constabulary has appealed for information after they revealed that Openreach’s UK broadband and phone network in the county had been attacked eight times since May 2023 by criminal gangs, which typically target the theft of underground copper cables and often cause significant service outages.

Openreach Offer £20k Reward to Catch Thamesmead Cable Thieves

5th June, 2023 (12 Comments)

Openreach (BT) and Crimestoppers have begun offering a reward of £20,000 to help catch the criminals who were responsible for several thefts of their copper broadband and phone cables around the Thamesmead area of South-East London, which caused significant service disruption for locals.

ICO Fines UK ISP Ice Comms £80k for Making Illegal SPAM Calls

16th May, 2023 (8 Comments)

Crewe-based broadband and phone provider Ice Telecommunications Ltd (Ice Comms) has been fined £80,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after they were found to have made 72,682 unsolicited marketing (SPAM) calls to businesses registered with the CTPS or TPS between 13th Sept 2021 and 31st Jan 2022.