Phone scams are a major social problem that can affect many individuals very hard, says Acting Director-General Catarina Wretman at a press conference.
Since the beginning of November, telephone operators must stop calls from abroad that appear to come from fixed, Swedish numbers.
According to the PTS, between 40,000 and 50,000 calls are blocked every day with the support of the rules, which will also apply to Swedish mobile numbers from March 3 next year.
However, SMS from fake senders are still a major problem.
Manipulated numbers
PTS is now proposing a voluntary register where companies and organizations can protect their sender names.
The idea is to combat so-called spoofing, i.e., scammers using manipulated numbers. This can involve SMS that appear to come from a bank or an authority.
With a register, the recipient of an SMS could check if the sender is registered, according to PTS.
The register will then be used by operators to filter out fake SMS. As a citizen, you can log in and check the register to see if it's a company that has registered, says Wretman.
The register is proposed to be voluntary and not mandatory, as the latter would be too costly for small businesses. According to the PTS report, a fee will need to be charged for those who register their sender name due to administrative costs.
Organized crime
According to Minister for Civil Affairs Erik Slottner (KD), who received the PTS proposal on Tuesday, it is a priority issue to combat fraud crimes.
This is a crime that not only affects individuals very hard but is also part of serious organized crime, he says.
Finland has recently introduced a similar register as PTS is now proposing.
Although there is no official statistics yet, the initial experiences seem to be positive. That makes it even more interesting, says Slottner, who cannot say when and if the proposals will become a reality.
