Cyber crooks aren’t giving up on trying to scam UK phone owners. In fact, the issue of messaging attacks appears to be getting worse, with Virgin Media O2 just confirming that it has now managed to block a whopping 1 billion fake texts from arriving on customers’ devices.

The telecoms giant says it is using new threat detection technology to prevent malicious messages from being delivered on its network.

That’s boosted by help from users who are now are able to share any messages they receive – via the 7726 free reporting service – that appear suspicious.

O2 is warning that online thieves continue to attack phone users at an alarming rate with 600 million scam messages blocked since January alone – that’s more than 1,300 a minute.

It’s clearly good news that so many texts are being stopped in their tracks, but phone users still need to stay alert, with O2 confirming that, despite investing millions in counter fraud measures, “telecoms company customers are continuously targeted”.

Getting caught out by a fake message could be costly. Online fraudsters often use these scam texts in a bid to steal high-value phones or to access customer data. This personal information can then be used to perpetrate further fraud elsewhere.

In a bid to stop more people becoming victims, Virgin Media O2 is now urging the government to put law enforcement at the heart of its new Fraud Strategy, which is due to be launched this year.

With fewer than 4,000 prosecutions in 2024, Virgin Media O2 argues fraudsters can continue to commit crimes without consequence because police forces are not given enough power and resources to counter professional gangs.

It’s calling for urgent action from government to make fraud a strategic priority through creating a dedicated, centralised national policing agency to handle all fraud investigations.

“That we’ve had to intervene to block 1 billion scam texts shows the scale of the organised crime gangs we’re up against,” explained Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud Prevention at Virgin Media O2.

“Scammers are relentlessly targeting Brits and, despite the investments we’re making to stay one step ahead, sadly fraud is the biggest crime in the UK.

“We must send a clear message that fraud is not a crime without consequence. Government must use its forthcoming Fraud Strategy to empower law enforcement by giving them the tools and resources needed to show fraud doesn’t pay and bring these criminals to justice.”

If you ever get a text that doesn’t feel right, stop and think before replying or clicking on any links.