The fight against spoofing begins: towards the end of fraudulent telephone calls?

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You will no doubt have noticed, but in recent years scam attempts via fraudulent calls and SMS messages have increased. This sometimes involves spoofing. Behind this term is quite simply identity theft. Malicious people are in fact capable of pretending to be an organization (like a bank, for example), displaying its official number and identity. Fortunately, this should soon be a thing of the past.

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MAN (Number Authentication Mechanism) to the rescue

Since October 1, operators must implement a solution called MAN, for Number Authentication Mechanism. This solution, which is based on a technology called STIR/SHAKEN, must authenticate voice calls passing over the Internet (SIP protocol) and ensure that the source of a call is who it claims to be.

If the solution detects a non-compliant call when transmitted or received, it can then be blocked before even reaching the users to protect them.

The MAN therefore only fights against spoofingand a delay in its application by operators is not impossible. In 2023, the damage from this type of scam amounted to 380 million euros according to the Payment Means Security Observatory.

Unfortunately, this protection put in place following a law promulgated in July 2020 currently only concerns landlines that work with an Internet box. Calls from smartphones in particular are not yet blocked.

Still many gaps to fill

In addition, many other methods are used by the malicious people behind fraudulent calls and messages to deceive the vigilance of operators and their victims. Using messaging applications like WhatsApp, for example, remains a solution, even if solutions are also put in place to limit fraud.

We will therefore probably have to be patient before we see a real drop in the number of unwanted communications on our devices. In the meantime, mobile applications, sometimes from the operators themselves, make it possible to report or even automatically block this type of call.