New rules from December: More protection against telephone fraud

Status: 01.12.2022 2:18 p.m

A new telephone protection law is intended to curb fraudulent calls from today. Network providers are held accountable. How should criminals be stopped?

By Emal Atif, tagesschau.de

Telephone fraud has increased significantly in recent years. And the methods are also getting bolder. For example, criminals disguise their true identity by displaying a fake number on a potential victim’s phone screen. Among other things, the emergency numbers 110 or 112 are misused. Criminals pretend to be from the police, an authority or a bank – with the aim of getting access data for bank accounts or receiving cash. The calls themselves mostly come from abroad.

Little room for maneuver so far

So far, the Federal Network Agency has had great difficulty in taking action against criminal telephone fraudsters. Section 123 of the Telecommunications Act (TKG) allows you to switch off entire numbers. However, the measure makes little sense if perpetrators use existing telephone numbers when manipulating the number display.

For a year now, the Federal Network Agency has been able to request information about the caller from the provider under certain conditions. However, personal data is usually deleted after seven days due to data protection law. This makes it difficult to determine the original number. In addition, since most calls come from abroad or are diverted via them, they are not subject to number management by the German federal authorities. That made it easy for the perpetrators.

Block certain numbers

But that should now come to an end. From today, December 1st, consumers should be better protected and thus less likely to be victims of telephone fraud. The new Telephone Protection Act obliges network operators: No German phone number may be displayed for calls from foreign networks. The only exception are vacationers who are temporarily abroad and call Germany from a domestic number.

In addition, the providers must cancel calls with certain numbers. For example, fake calls to the emergency numbers 110 or 112 are not even delivered. Even expensive special numbers such as (0)900 or (0)137, where the tariff can be set as high as you like, must be cancelled.

Consumer advocates welcome law

The consumer center in Germany welcomes the new law. However, at this point in time it is not possible to assess what effects the measures would have in practice. If the number of complaints does not decrease, legal amendments could become necessary, according to Susanne Blohm from the Federal Association of Consumer Advice Centers.

But this must be observed in the coming years and months. “Here, too, one must certainly wait and see whether there are gaps that can be exploited. Especially in the telecommunications sector, there are constant technical developments that people with criminal intentions can take advantage of,” says Blohm.

In the future probably more calls with suppressed number

The new regulation makes it more difficult for scammers to call with fake numbers. The result: From December, the Federal Network Agency expects an increase in calls without a displayed phone number. However, that does not mean that all of these calls have a criminal background. Because there are legitimate reasons for phone number suppression. The Federal Agency generally advises making sure of the identity of the caller.

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