Earlier this year Mobile UK launched its National SMS Fraud Tracker to mark Safer Internet Day, shining a light on the scale of scam text messages being blocked by mobile operators across the UK. Just three months on, the latest figures show the continued progress being made through industry‑wide action.

Q1 2026: More than 166 million scam messages blocked

Between January and March 2026, mobile operators blocked a total of 166,924,553 fraudulent SMS messages before they could reach consumers.

The monthly breakdown is as follows:

• January 2026: 97,111,545 messages blocked

• February 2026: 49,096,452 messages blocked

• March 2026: 20,716,556 messages blocked

These figures highlight both the persistent volume of attempted SMS fraud and the effectiveness of network level blocking systems deployed by operators across the UK.

A cumulative milestone: Nearly 3 billion messages stopped

Since tracking began, the UK mobile industry has now blocked a cumulative total of 2,831,725,191 scam SMS messages. This milestone demonstrates the scale of behind-the-scenes intervention taking place every day, stopping scams before they can cause financial harm, distress or disruption to consumers.

Ongoing operator action to tackle fraud

Alongside SMS blocking, operators continue to invest heavily in AI‑driven protections, enhanced network monitoring and customer facing safeguards.

Vodafone UK: AI‑powered scam call protection

Vodafone recently launched a new AI‑based scam call protection feature, designed to identify suspected scam calls in real time and provide clear warnings to customers before they answer. This capability strengthens Vodafone’s wider approach to fraud prevention, complementing existing SMS blocking measures at network level.

Virgin Media O2: flagging over one billion scam and spam calls

Virgin Media O2 has reported that its AI systems have now detected and flagged over one billion suspected scam and spam calls to customers. Using advanced analytics and machine learning models, the operator continues to block and label suspicious communications at scale, protecting customers across both mobile and fixed networks.

EE: Enhanced AI‑driven scam detection across the network

EE has continued to roll out AI‑based security enhancements across its network, including improved scam call labelling, international SMS blocking and detection of impersonation scams such as “Hi Mum / Hi Dad” messages. EE has confirmed that hundreds of millions of spam texts and fraudulent calls have already been blocked across its network, further strengthening industrywide defences.

Where we are now

Mobile UK will continue to publish regular updates throughout 2026, supporting wider efforts with government, regulators and cross sector partners to make the UK a harder place for scammers to operate.

Blocking fraudulent messages at network level remains one of the most effective tools in protecting customers, and the industry remains committed to strengthening these protections as threats evolve.

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