Taking into account the growing risks of fraud, Latvia’s existing regulation should be improved to allow mobile operators to play a more active role in protecting residents against fraudulent text messages and calls, said Hermanis Eriņš, Head of Internal Security Processes at Bite Latvija, in a statement to LETA.
He explained that by adopting preventive mechanisms similar to those already in place in Lithuania, mobile operators could significantly enhance the protection of residents by performing automated checks on the content of SMS messages and expanding the capabilities to block incoming calls.
Eriņš noted that mobile operators in Latvia have been consistently reporting an increase in phone fraud, both via calls and SMS. For example, in the first half of 2025, more than 1.4 million fraudulent calls were blocked on the Bite Latvija network, while the company’s Antivirus Plus security service prevented over 12 million security threats in June alone.
Currently, mobile operators in Latvia are only permitted to block previously identified, blacklisted links and numbers. They are not allowed to analyze or warn users about new threats. However, operators have implemented their own solutions. For instance, in May 2024, Bite Latvija launched a free network security tool that automatically blocks suspicious calls appearing to originate from Latvian numbers.
Still, Latvia lacks a legal framework that would allow mobile operators to act proactively, Eriņš stressed.
He believes that Latvian operators should be allowed to use a wider range of tools, as is already the case in Lithuania. Since 2024, Lithuanian regulation has allowed operators to automatically check whether an SMS contains a link to a potentially harmful website. If the harmfulness of the link cannot yet be confirmed, the operator is obliged to warn the user about possible risks. Suspicious messages are delivered with a warning and automatically forwarded to the Lithuanian National Cyber Security Center for assessment. If a link is deemed harmful, it is blacklisted and messages containing it are blocked.
In contrast, Latvian operators are currently not permitted to analyze the content of text messages or to warn users about potentially dangerous links unless those links have already been officially classified as harmful.
Eriņš also highlighted that the Lithuanian Communications Regulatory Authority adopted new amendments to the rules on network connectivity and access earlier this year. The regulation, which will enter into force in October, includes several new security measures. For example, operators will be obliged to block calls from foreign operators that illegally use Lithuanian numbers, as well as unauthorized roaming calls from users who are not physically located outside of Lithuania. Additionally, operators will have the right to delay a call or play a warning message before blocking it.
This approach, according to Eriņš, enables Lithuanian operators to combat fraud more effectively through preventive mechanisms. As technology evolves, he stressed the importance of a clear and precise regulatory framework that allows immediate action, rather than waiting for fraud to occur. “The adoption of such solutions in Latvia would significantly strengthen the protection of residents against fraud attempts,” said the Bite Latvija representative.
In 2023, Bite Latvija approached both the Ministry of Transport and the Public Utilities Commission (SPRK) with a proposal to improve the regulatory framework. At the time, the main obstacles cited were data protection concerns and regulatory rigidity.
Eriņš is convinced that mobile operators in Latvia are ready to take on a greater role in protecting residents – but to do so, they need legal support and more active involvement from the state.
