Starting Monday, 7 July 2025, users will be better protected against fraudulent calls using false identification data, made on behalf of public institutions, banks or companies. Thus, operators will block calls initiated from outside the territory of Romania, which falsely display certain national numbers – mainly fixed telephony or national fixed and mobile telephony numbers – that are incorrectly or incompletely used. ANCOM took this measure to limit the phenomenon known as "CLI Spoofing" (falsifying the number displayed for incoming calls).
The Authority established this measure after an in-depth analysis and consultation with the main providers of electronic communications services and with the representatives of the Criminal Investigation Directorate within the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police. The application of this technical solution aims to significantly reduce the incidence of CLI Spoofing, in the case of scams through which a user is called on behalf of an official entity, including in situations where users' contact details have been obtained following interactions with deepfake materials generated with artificial intelligence (including generative AI).
ANCOM draws attention to the fact that the application of these technical measures alone cannot lead to the eradication of fraud cases, therefore users are encouraged to continue to exercise special caution and to take precautions in the event that they receive calls from suspicious phone numbers:
- to verify the caller’s identity;
- not to provide personal data over the phone (identification data, bank details, passwords, PINs, etc.);
- to update their software and applications on their phone constantly;
- to report these situations to the authorities.