Mobile operators start blocking fake-number calls in Uzbekistan

The new technology was launched at the initiative and with the support of the Ministry of Digital Technologies. Mobile operators Beeline and Mobiuz announced the rollout on 17 and 21 October, respectively.

According to Beeline, the anti-spoofing system verifies the authenticity of a phone number. If an international call originates not from an Uzbek user but is disguised under a local number (with the +998 prefix), the system automatically blocks such calls.

“Fraudsters use several schemes to exploit fake numbers. For example, they often make calls from abroad while hiding behind the landline number of an Uzbek subscriber – the system detects this mismatch and blocks the call. Another common method is to make calls from abroad, allegedly on behalf of one of Uzbekistan’s mobile operators. The system checks in real time through the operator’s equipment which network the SIM card is registered in. If the switch shows that the subscriber is registered in a home network instead of a foreign one, the call is automatically blocked,” the company said.

The system is automatically activated for all subscribers and is free of charge, requiring no additional actions from users.

According to Mobiuz, the company implemented the anti-spoofing technology in September 2025.

“For a month now, thousands of fraudulent calls made from abroad to Uzbekistan have not reached our subscribers. The reason is simple – the system automatically checks the authenticity of calls and blocks suspicious ones before they reach users,” the company said in its statement.