BluGem's honeypot allows us to see the scams and spam that phone users receive worldwide. This example from Australia highlights a recent trend where the goal is to trick the victim into beginning a conversation with a scammer in the false belief that they are engaging with somebody they already know and trust.

We can help telcos and regulators to monitor scam and spam activity so they can proactively protect the public. For example, the phone number in this message should be immediately blocked. There should also be an investigation into how the fraudsters were able to gain control of this number, so controls are put in place to prevent them obtaining more phone numbers in future.

Tackling scam and spam activity has become a top priority but there are very few reliable monitoring methods available to communications providers and national authorities. We are ready to help them both by providing automated and objective monitoring so each can focus their resources on stopping illegal campaigns as soon as they begin.