Government bans IP phone calls to combat fraudsters

The Russian government has banned making calls via the Internet to citizens' phones, which is often resorted to by fraudsters. The decree was published on Saturday, December 28, on the government website.

It is specified that the government canceled the license that allowed linking the Internet and telephone networks in order to complicate the scheme for phone scammers, who often use this feature to spoof numbers.

"That said, the decision will have no impact on ordinary phone users. People who use voice communication in messengers use special programs that provide communication via the Internet, without going to the fixed and mobile telephone network," the statement reads.

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Earlier, on December 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with members of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (CDHR) that telephone fraud had been elevated to the rank of state policy in Ukraine as one of the lines of attack against Russia. It was specified that many calls are received from the territory of the country to recruit and intimidate Russians.