The Communications Regulator, ComReg, has announced plans to tackle scam phone calls from international numbers.
Phone users in Ireland have reported a big increase in scam calls from UK numbers with the prefix +44 in recent months.
The calls often involve an automated voice claiming to be from a recruitment firm or retailer.
ComReg said a "voice firewall" will be deployed in the first half of 2026.
"The impact of the voice firewall should provide an important defence against scam calls, notably including those which spoof international numbers," ComReg said in an update on scam call interventions.
"This is a dynamic intervention that uses advanced real time call data analytics and machine learning to detect and act upon unusual patterns of call signalling data, traffic volumes and call originating location," the regulator said.
ComReg said that previous interventions from February 2023 to October 2025 have blocked over 131 million scam calls, with over 18 million calls blocked in September 2025 alone.
The regulator is advising phone users to remain vigilant.
"Scammers use software to call or text a range of numbers at the same time and then note which are answered," according to a ComReg information note on the issue.
"Answered numbers are recorded as genuine in-use numbers and may be sold on the internet to other cybercriminals," it said.
