TNS: Rebuilding Trust in Voice Requires Protecting Both Caller Identity and the Numbers Behind It

Customer-facing organizations worldwide rely on voice calls to deliver fraud alerts, appointment reminders, service updates and other time-sensitive information. Spoofing and unwanted calls, however, are eroding confidence in the channel, causing consumers to ignore even legitimate outreach. When fraudsters impersonate a business using its real telephone number, complaints can damage the number’s reputation, leading legitimate calls to be mislabeled or blocked and undermining the trust branded calling and authentication are meant to reinforce.

Fraudsters don’t need to breach a company’s systems to damage its reputation – they just need to spoof its phone number.

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The challenge is especially urgent in Latin America, where regulators and industry leaders are working to curb fraud and restore confidence in voice. In Brazil, ANATEL enacted a rule effective November 2025 requiring high-volume callers to validate call origin, building on earlier efforts to increase transparency and reduce abusive calls. The move underscores a broader global imperative: rebuilding trust in voice requires protecting both the identity shown to consumers and the telephone number behind it.

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Against this backdrop, Transaction Network Services (TNS) will address the issue at Telco Transformation 2026, taking place August 19-20 in Rio de Janeiro. As part of the event program, Hariom Sharma, TNS Senior Director of Solutions Architecture, will present “Beyond Authentication: Protecting Callers from Scams Aiding Businesses Increase Engagement,” examining how Communications Service Providers (CSPs) and enterprises can combine verified caller identity, call authentication and spoof protection to help restore trust in voice.

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“Fraudsters don’t need to breach a company’s systems to damage its reputation – they just need to spoof its phone number,” said Seth Walton, General Manager, Communications Market, TNS. “Once that number loses credibility; legitimate calls to customers may be ignored, mislabeled or blocked, weakening customer engagement. The LATAM region is bringing greater attention to this challenge, but it is one that enterprises around the world need to address.”

Walton continued: “Branded calling helps consumers recognize legitimate businesses, while authentication helps networks verify where a call originated. But those protections are only as strong as the telephone number behind them. Spoof protection closes a critical gap by helping prevent unauthorized use from damaging number reputation and weakening trust across the call path. Treating these capabilities as part of one trust framework will be essential as markets worldwide modernize voice communications.”