Evaluating Technical Countermeasures for Telecom Spam and Scams in the AI Era

This paper addresses the enduring issue of spam, scams, and robocalls within the telecommunications sector. The diffusion of generative AI technologies has escalated these challenges, as advancements in natural language processing and related tools enhance the sophistication of scams, facilitating the implementation of convincing social engineering attacks. The economic impact of these nefarious activities is significant, as evidenced by the vast number of spam calls and robocalls generated every day that lead to significant financial losses. Although technologies such as blocklists, STIR/SHAKEN, and Caller ID Verification methods are being implemented, the adoption of these solutions by phone companies remains slow due to industry barriers and varied regulatory frameworks. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of current anti-spam countermeasures and highlights the practical limits of these solutions, underscoring the need for improved decision-making tools.