2026 Telecom Voice Security Predictions: Where is the Market Headed?

March 2026

Telecoms & Connectivity

Alex Webb

Senior Research Analyst

In 2026, the traditional rule-based solutions used by mobile network operators are falling behind fraudsters. Static approaches to tackling mobile voice are unable to keep pace with the new era of fraud, with AI fundamentally changing and exacerbating the threat to enterprises and mobile subscribers.

What Will Mobile Voice Fraud Look Like in 2026?

The number of mobile voice fraud attacks such as voice phishing (vishing) has grown consistently in recent years, with fraudsters evolving from traditional threats, such as international revenue share fraud, to more sophisticated spam calls.

In 2026, fraudulent calls will remain a major threat to the mobile voice channel, with mobile subscribers expected to receive more than 380 billion fraudulent calls in this year. This figure will rise to 394 billion in 2028. In 2025, the market saw a significant increase in vishing attacks, due to fraudsters adopting increasingly sophisticated methods to defraud mobile subscribers and enterprises. 

Total Number of Fraudulent Mobile Voice Calls (m), Split by 8 Key Regions, 2026 vs. 2028

Source: Juniper Research

Mobile voice remains a critical channel for both enterprises and consumers, with more than 5 trillion calls expected to be made in 2026. Notably, with the emergence of voice AI technology and voice AI agents, Juniper Research believes it will become increasingly important to secure mobile voice channels, as enterprise voice AI strategies become a key target for fraudsters to mimic using their own AI technology.

AI voice represents a major opportunity for mobile network operators to grow enterprise voice revenue. However, mobile network operators must ensure that voice channels are secure to capitalise on this revenue opportunity. An AI voice agent holds little value to consumers if they are not confident that it is not fraudulent.

Voice firewalls allow mobile network operators to detect and block fraudulent mobile voice calls in real time; eliminating fraud such as robocalls, Wangiri, and Calling Line Identification (CLI) spoofing, and thus protecting the value of their mobile voice channels. In 2026, mobile subscribers will receive more than 270 billion fraudulent spoofed calls; demonstrating the importance of voice firewalls protecting mobile voice as a channel.

How Will Fraudsters Use AI to Grow the Threat of Mobile Voice Fraud in 2026?

The next wave of mobile voice fraud will be defined by fraudsters using AI to create new threats, which mobile network operators must address. In 2026, expanding access to AI tools and services, along with improvements in their quality, will enable fraudsters to leverage generative AI for voice cloning or construct scripts based on enterprises’ customer engagements.

This growing role of AI will make voice fraud increasingly realistic and more difficult for the average mobile subscriber to identify. The probability and size of losses will continue to grow, with Juniper Research forecasting losses from mobile voice fraud to peak at $415 billion in 2028; underscoring the need for mobile network operators to invest in comprehensive voice firewall services that address the increasing complexity of voice fraud threats.

Total Mobile Subscriber Losses to Mobile Voice Fraud ($m), Split by 8 Key Regions, 2026 vs. 2028

Source: Juniper Research

Losses from AI-based voice fraud are mounting, with fraudsters using generative AI to create highly realistic calls, impersonate celebrities, and defraud enterprises. Whilst mobile network operators cannot prevent fraudsters’ access to AI technology, they can address the root causes of AI-based voice fraud by detecting falsified caller IDs, blocking high-volume spoofed calls, and identifying fraud patterns.

Heksagon, a vendor of advanced fraud management and interconnect solutions for telecom operators is at the forefront of combating these threats. They enable mobile network operators to mitigate traditional fraud threats and deliver effective, innovative approaches to preventing modern advanced fraud. The company currently blocks more than 9 million fraudulent voice calls each month, with a false positive rate of just 0.01%.

Heksagon Enables Mobile Network Operators to Fight Next-generation Mobile Voice Fraud

Heksagon was among the first providers worldwide to launch a real-time voice firewall. Heksagon’s experience and expertise in the voice fraud market have established the company as a global leader in voice fraud, with Juniper Research recently awarding it the Platinum Award for Most Innovative Voice Fraud Detection Solution 2026.

The Heksagon Voice Firewall (VFW) solution enables mobile network operators to respond to mobile voice fraud proactively, rather than reactively. It delivers a comprehensive fraud prevention firewall which address both emerging and established fraud scenarios simultaneously including: Wangiri, International Revenue Share Fraud (IRSF), bypass fraud, SIMBox, CLI spoofing, and in the future AI voice social engineering.

The voice firewall enables the mobile network operators to expand their anti-fraud capabilities beyond basic rules-based and batch Call Detail Record (CDR) approaches with real-time enforcement which will protect mobile subscribers and enterprises in the new era of mobile voice fraud. The company already delivers for tier 1 mobile network operators, with more than 9 million calls blocked each month and a 0.01% false positive rate.

Heksagon’s voice firewall also delivers visibility and control over flash call traffic and enables mobile network operators to identify and trace the origin of fraudulent international mobile voice traffic. Furthermore, the Heksagon solution delivers:

• Call Validation: Ensures caller authenticity with regional and end-to-end validation methods; verifying call legitimacy in real time. It combats increasingly sophisticated fraud strategies such as CLI spoofing, robocalls, and SIMBox bypass, with reliable verification for both simple and complex scenarios delivered by an architecture that eliminates single points of failure.
• Call Verification Services for Banks: Enables branded calling which empowers enterprises and banks to protect their communications against high-risk calls, spoofing, and social engineering via a verified caller identity. Heksagon also provides capabilities which can protect customers from vishing and impersonation fraud in real time, with high-risk call alerts which leverage carrier-level visibility to detect and block threats before they reach customers.

Mobile network operators must evolve their anti-fraud capabilities to keep pace with fraudsters growing use of technologies such as AI. Future mobile voice fraud will be highly realistic and difficult to detect, with losses expected to cumulatively exceed $1 trillion from 2026 to 2028. To protect mobile subscribers, enterprises, and the future value of the mobile voice channel, Juniper Research believes that mobile network operators must invest in voice firewalls such as Heksagon’s, which can dynamically detect and block fraudulent calls in real-time.

Heksagon is a software development company specializing in real-time fraud prevention, service monetization, and network intelligence solutions for telecoms and MNOs. Founded in 2007, it operates in 15+ countries, helping operators of all sizes protect their revenue, optimize network performance, and establish effective voice fraud prevention.

With 15+ years of market leadership in voice fraud prevention, call validation, and telecom security, Heksagon drives innovation in fraud prevention and interconnect management. It collaborates with telco partners, offering its Voice Firewall solution under white-label arrangements to support their businesses. Also, it helps operators worldwide create secure and future-ready communication ecosystems.