Criminals who hide behind fake telephone numbers to trick unsuspecting UK consumers into falling for scams will be targeted in a major crackdown powered by artificial intelligence.

Mobile networks including BT EE, VodafoneThree and Virgin Media O2 have jointly committed to upgrade their networks to block “number spoofing” within the next year in a bid to protect the public from rising fraud as part of a new telecoms charter with the government.

AI will also be deployed to identify and block suspicious calls and texts, preventing scams before they happen. In addition, mobile operators have committed to boost data sharing, with advanced call tracing technology to be rolled out across mobile networks to give police more intelligence to track down scammers.