Why Location Alone Can No Longer Be Your Security Strategy

You’ve probably heard the advice: “Don’t answer calls from unknown numbers.” But here’s the twist—what if that number looks like it’s from your own country, or a place you’ve always associated with credibility? Your instinct changes. You pick up. And that, right there, is the opening fraudsters have been waiting for.

The telecom world has been conditioned to trust certain country codes: +44 for the UK, +1 for the U.S. and Canada, +81 for Japan, +46 for Sweden, and +61 for Australia. These geographies carry reputations for regulatory oversight, advanced telecom networks, and low fraud rates. But in the global fraud economy, reputation isn’t a shield, it’s a disguise.

Fraud today thrives not in the obvious red zones, but in the quiet, seemingly safe blue zones on a telecom heatmap. It hides behind numbers that “look right,” because fraudsters know that people, carriers, and even automated systems still give geography too much credit. In reality, a trusted prefix is just another layer of camouflage and the attackers are betting you’ll never look past it.

1. United Kingdom (+44): When Familiarity Opens the Door

The UK’s telecom sector is globally respected, with decades of infrastructure investment and a robust regulatory framework. But that same respect has made +44 a trophy disguise for bad actors. Fraudsters exploit it in two primary ways: renting legitimate UK DIDs (Direct Inward Dialing numbers) through small resellers, or outright spoofing numbers that belong to genuine businesses and government agencies.

The infamous iSpoof scandal showed the scale of damage possible when trust is tied too closely to origin. In just 12 months, scammers made 10 million fraudulent calls through the platform, with victims losing over £100 million. Ofcom reports that more than 40% of UK adults have been targeted by suspicious calls, and most admit they’re more likely to answer a UK number—even when they don’t recognize it. This isn’t just a consumer issue; carriers themselves can be tricked into routing these calls without extra scrutiny, giving fraudsters a free pass to reach end users.

The lesson? Familiarity triggers trust, and trust without validation is a risk vector.

2. North America (+1): Comfortably Dangerous

North America’s +1 prefix is perhaps the most familiar in global telecom. For U.S. and Canadian subscribers, it’s “home turf.” Unfortunately, that comfort is the very vulnerability scammers exploit. Whether it’s an IRS scam, a fake Amazon account warning, or a “your package is delayed” robocall, the +1 origin dramatically increases answer rates.

Recent data shows that nearly one in three unknown calls to North American subscribers in the first half of 2024 were unwanted and many of these bore a +1 prefix. The tactics are evolving, too. Some scammers are using “neighbor spoofing,” matching the first six digits of the recipient’s own number to make the call feel even more familiar. Others blend in by using legitimate carrier routes from the U.S. and Canada, making detection by origin alone nearly impossible.

Even the most advanced filtering systems can falter when geography is their first sorting rule. What looks like a safe, local call can be the beginning of a costly breach in trust.

3. Japan (+81): Low Fraud Rates as a Marketing Asset for Criminals

Japan enjoys one of the lowest fraud victim rates globally—just 8% from 2021 to 2023 compared to 31% in the U.S. That sterling reputation is exactly why +81 is so attractive to fraudsters. Calls from Japan are often perceived as legitimate by both people and systems, especially in international B2B contexts where Japanese companies are seen as meticulous and trustworthy.

Fraudsters lean into that image. They launch premium-rate scams using +81 numbers that appear to come from reputable sources, banks, logistics companies, even embassy offices. Victims answer, follow instructions, and end up routed to high-cost services, often without realizing they’ve been scammed until the charges arrive.

The trust that’s been built over decades of Japanese telecom reliability is now being rented, spoofed, and misused in seconds. Without behavioral analysis and attestation, that trust becomes a liability rather than an asset.

4. Sweden (+46): Regulated, Respected—and Still Exploited

Sweden is widely regarded as a leader in telecom regulation. The Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) has moved aggressively to block inbound calls that appear to originate from Swedish fixed numbers unless they can be authenticated, with mobile numbers joining the rule in March 2025. Telia, one of Sweden’s largest operators, reported a 20% drop in spoofed inbound calls after implementing the measure.

It’s an impressive statistic, but it reveals another truth: if 20% of inbound calls claiming to be Swedish were spoofed, then even the safest markets have serious exposure. And regulation is inherently reactive—it closes one door, but fraudsters are already probing for the next open window.

Without real-time behavioral scoring and international attestation enforcement, the safest-looking country codes will remain prime real estate for fraud.

5. Australia (+61): Reputation as a Trojan Horse

Australia’s +61 is a prime example of how fraudsters weaponize a country’s good name. With a reputation for low corruption and strong governance, +61 numbers are rarely flagged as suspicious. That makes them perfect for International Revenue Share Fraud (IRSF), SIM-box schemes, and international bypass fraud—where calls are intentionally misrouted to avoid legitimate fees and mask their true origin.

In bypass scenarios, a call that should appear as international is delivered as local, allowing scammers to dodge regulatory scrutiny and increase their profit margins. The trusted +61 prefix makes the deception even more effective.

When systems trust origin too much, they open the door to bad actors using some of the cleanest reputations in telecom as cover.

The Illusion of Geography-Based Trust

On a fraud heatmap, these “trusted” geographies would be painted blue. But if you zoom in, you’d see hotspots—clusters of spoofing operations, compromised reseller networks, and high-frequency fraud bursts—hidden under that safe veneer.

We trust these geographies because of historical performance, regulatory presence, and perceived cultural integrity. But those are static indicators, and fraud is a dynamic, fast-moving threat. By the time regulation catches up to one tactic, another is already in play. The takeaway is clear: country codes are context, not confirmation.

How 1Route Cuts Through the Illusion

At 1Route, trust is never assumed, it’s earned in real time. Here’s how we go beyond the geography trap:

• Real-Time Behavioral Scoring: Every call is analyzed in milliseconds, comparing its behavior to known baselines. If a +44 call is routing through unexpected gateways or showing abnormal frequency spikes, it’s flagged immediately.
  
• Global Clearing House + Accurate STIR/SHAKEN Attestation: Calls from anywhere—trusted or not—must pass through strict attestation protocols. No call “gets a free pass” based on its origin.
  
• Fraud Management with GBSDTech: Our partnership brings SS7 expertise, certificate authority services, and active fraud blocking to both IP and TDM networks. We catch SIM box activity, IRSF, and Wangiri scams even when they hide behind the safest-looking prefixes.
  

Global Fraud Reality Check

Telecom fraud is growing, not shrinking. In 2023, global losses hit nearly $39 billion, a 12% year-over-year increase. Fraud types like IRSF, CLI spoofing, and bypass fraud are particularly prevalent in international traffic, where jurisdictional complexity makes detection harder. Hiya’s 2024 global data shows over 20 billion spam calls flagged, 7% confirmed fraud, 22% nuisance, demonstrating the scale and persistence of the problem.

Geography-based filtering is simply not equipped to handle these threats. Without multi-layered validation that considers behavior, certificates, and routing intelligence, the “trusted” label is meaningless.

Five Things Telecom Leaders Should Remember

1. A familiar country code is not a guarantee. Spoofed +1 and +44 calls happen daily.
   
2. Behavior tells the real story. Look for anomalies, not just origins.
   
3. Regulation is critical but not enough. Sweden’s results are proof that rules help, but they can’t predict the next tactic.
   
4. Trust must be continuously earned. A call’s safety can’t be assumed from its prefix alone.
   
5. Integrated defense is the only defense. Identity verification, behavioral scoring, and fraud blocking must work together seamlessly.
   

Conclusion: Trust, Verified

The fraud landscape has shifted. The most dangerous calls may not be the ones from suspicious geographies, they may be the ones you think are safe. The ones with numbers you recognize. The ones carrying the country codes that historically meant “all clear.”

At 1Route, we believe trust should never be guessed, it should be proven. Through accurate attestation, edge-based validation, and advanced fraud detection, we cut through the illusion, so every call earns its credibility in real time.

Because in today’s telecom environment, trusted doesn’t mean trustworthy. And the sooner we stop relying on geography alone, the sooner we can bring real trust back to voice.