Telemarketing, boom of telephone scams: AGCOM starts investigation on 7 Call Center and Codacons launches the petition to say enough

The phone rings once again. On the other hand, a registered item or an operator, perhaps insistent when not aggressive, offers miraculous offers. When the phone lies the voice is different, the number is also the proposal is the same. In the middle, millions of exasperated Italians, victims of a phenomenon that has now taken on the contours of the « show ».

Behind the commercial proposal is often the scam

Every day, according to the estimates provided by the consumer associations, hundreds of thousands of harassment calls reach the houses and cell phones of unsuspecting citizens, fragile elderly and tired families. The register of oppositions or legislative reforms that have tried to stem the problem seem to apply to nothing. The phone calls multiply and become more sophisticated, but « behind the patina of a commercial proposal, a scam often hides, and behind that scam, an organization that uses labile regulations and ineffective controls », explains Codacons.

The Far West

And so, so far, in Italy, he has reigned absolute far west, with companies operating in full illegality and call center they call from abroad by creating a real form of harassment to the detriment of citizens. « A substantial part of the commercial calls received by Italians now comes from operators located abroad who, not being subject to national legislation, operate in full illegality », explains President Codacons, Gianluca di Ascenzo. But now something could change.

AGCOM starts investigation for 7 call center companies

Meanwhile, AGCOM has started an investigation for incorrect telemarketing against seven call center companies who promote the conclusion of contracts in the energy sector (Action Srl, Fire Srl, J.Wolf Consulting Srl and Noma Trade Srl) and in the telecommunications sector (Entiende Srl, Nova Group Srl and My Phone Srl). The accusation is to use disguised numbers with the so -called « spoofing » technique, which allows you to manipulate the identification of the phone number. The telemarketing methods would be varied, all united by the transmission of non -transparent and deceptive information.

The new Agocom regulation

Just to combat this illegal practice, AGCOM has approved a new regulation against wild, aggressive and illegal telemarketing (through the use of a non -existent and unregistered telephone number, to prevent their identification). In particular, a new « anti-Spoofing » filter is introduced (the IT attack in which an attacker pretends to be a trusted entity) to block calls from abroad to Italy who expose an identification of the corresponding calling, illegitimately, to an Italian number. The entry into force of the measure conceived by AGCOM is set for 1 July 2025.

The filter will be mandatory for all telephone operators who, as Di Ascenzo explains, « will have to take technical measures to prevent the root that citizens receive phone calls from abroad from numbers that seem Italian. Within three months the blocking of calls from abroad will start with fixed network numbers, while within six months the block must also be extended to calls from mobile network. Fines of up to 1 million euros is planned for defaulting operators ».

The Petition of the Codacons

Meanwhile, the coordination of consumer defense associations promoted A petition on the Change.org platform with an eloquent title: Stop to the show – let’s say enough to telephone scams and unwanted calls. A campaign that aims to remove contractual validity from the offers entered into by telephone call. « It is not a punitive measure towards honest operators, » explains Codacons, but an act of common sense against a system that feeds fraudulent practices « .

The heart of the proposal is simple: to make all contracts stipulated by telephone not binding, unless otherwise confirmed through safe digital tools or autographed signature. In this way, the main weapon in the hands of the scammers would be less: the possibility of economically binding a citizen on the basis of a vocal recording, perhaps torn with deception.