U Mobile enhances scam protection for subscribers

PETALING JAYA: U Mobile has announced that its scam protection initiative, operating since February, has successfully blocked a total of over 265 million scam calls and fraudulent SMS nationwide across its 5G and 4G network.

Partnering with Cellusys, a provider of signalling security, roaming and analytics solutions headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, the 5G network provider is said to be the first telco in Malaysia to deliver full-scale scam protection at a network level.

According to the international non-profit Global Anti-Scam Alliance, 73% of Malaysians have reported experiencing scam calls and fraudulent SMS.

This ranks among the highest in South-East Asia, with households, senior citizens, and vulnerable individuals increasingly becoming targets for criminal groups.

“We are committed to safeguarding our customers against fraudulent activity, which is why we took a proactive step to embed the advanced scam protection solution from Cellusys directly into our network as a core security capability available to all customers,” said U Mobile chief technology officer Woon Ooi Yuen in a statement.

U Mobile’s initiative integrates Cellusys’ Unified Signalling, SMS and Voice Firewall solution, which protects customers from scam calls impersonating authorities and institutions, SMS phishing attacks, spoofed or manipulated caller identities, and high-volume criminal campaigns.

In contrast to generic filters, the solution prevents scam threats on a network level, screening all inbound calls and SMS and blocking anything deemed suspicious before it can reach customers’ devices.

Through Cellusys advanced signalling-intelligence platform, traffic is analysed at the authoritative network layer to detect anomalies and fraudulent behaviours with high precision.

Utilising behavioural and signalling-layer detection attuned to Malaysian threat patterns, the solution ensures deep visibility across voice and messaging channels, strong accuracy with minimal false positives, and continual adaptation to evolving fraud tactics.

“This deployment demonstrates what can be achieved when operators commit to proven, real-world defences rather than future roadmaps,” said Brendan Cleary, chief executive officer of Cellusys.

“We are proud that Cellusys technology is the engine behind this nationwide protection, operating with the accuracy, resilience, and scale required to stop scams before they reach consumers.”

With the scam protection initiative, U Mobile said it is emphasising its commitment towards safeguarding customers while strengthening national digital resilience and supporting Malaysia’s efforts to fight digital fraud and scams against consumers.

Woon said the company will continue improving its network through technology to ensure its customers have better protection across its voice, messaging and data services.

“As we expand our next generation 5G network nationwide, security remains a core priority, because trusted connectivity is essential to a resilient Malaysian digital economy.”