Spoofing consists in the illegal manipulation of telephone numbers, usually using the CLI (calling line identifier) of a number which the victim trusts, while the call is made from another number, and often from abroad.
Regulatory actions typically target the fraudulent manipulation of CLIs to avoid spoofing practices.
Cullen International’s research shows recent developments in national regulation against spoofing practices across Europe:
In Belgium, the regulator BIPT recently consulted on the creation of a do-not-originate list for all numbers that cannot be used to originate calls.
In February 2025, the Spanish Ministry for Digital Transformation adopted a regulation to prevent CLI manipulation and fraudulent calls and text messages to consumers.
Among other obligations, all Spanish operators (fixed and mobile) must now block voice calls and messages with unauthorised CLI, and those with international origin using a Spanish CLI.
From March 2025, operators in Sweden must block incoming international mobile calls with a national CLI.
For more information and access to the benchmark, please click on “Access the full content” - or on “Request Access”, in case you are not subscribed to our European Consumer Protection (in Telecoms) service.
more news
12 May 25
Global trends in AI regulation
Our latest Global Trends benchmark compares policies and regulations on artificial intelligence (AI) across 14 jurisdictions around the world.
08 May 25
Patchwork approach to 2G/3G switch-off poses challenge for IoT providers
Our IoT regulatory intelligence service provides a clear and comprehensive benchmark tracking the switch-off status of 2G and 3G networks in 66 countries across the world.
07 May 25
[INFOGRAPHIC] EU AI Act cheat sheet: general-purpose AI models
This cheat sheet by Cullen International provides a summary of the core provisions on general-purpose AI (GPAI) models under the EU AI Act.