On July 10, 2026, CONATEL, Venezuela’s National Telecommunications Commission, published an anti‑fraud warning through official media AVN. The notice targets spoofed scam OTP SMS and bulk fraudulent outbound voice calls impersonating official entities. The three major mobile carriers are mandated to implement real‑time interception for suspicious A2P traffic, and violating service providers risk immediate port shutdown.
The core warning states: CONATEL will never request personal data, bank passwords, one‑time passcodes or identity‑document information from users via phone calls or SMS. Scammers have recently been sending mass phishing messages pretending to be CONATEL, banks and government bodies. Using lures such as “account anomaly”, “number suspension” or “real‑name verification”, they trick recipients into replying with verification codes or clicking malicious links to steal funds and personal data.
In response, CONATEL instructed Movistar, Digitel and Movilnet to upgrade SMS firewalls and outbound‑voice risk‑control systems for real‑time detection and blocking of bulk suspicious A2P flows. Key monitoring targets include forged official Sender IDs, high‑volume OTP‑type messages and unknown short links. SMS service providers knowingly enabling scam operations will have their access ports shut down. Administrative proceedings will open under the Organic Telecommunications Law; serious cases result in revocation of telecom operating registrations.
CONATEL also advises end‑users to delete suspicious messages requesting personal details or verification codes without replying or clicking links, and verify facts through official channels. This represents CONATEL’s latest enforcement notice against A2P‑enabled telecom fraud in 2026, layered upon prior prohibited‑content lists and the Sender‑ID registration regime.
