The trust gap between brands and customers is a global epidemic. As First Orion expands its reach through the Global Exchange, we are finding that while geography changes, the core tension remains: when a phone rings with an unknown or suspicious number, consumers across the world are choosing silence because the risk is too great.
The European Landscape: High Stakes and Low Answer Rates
To bridge this divide, we must consider the realities of the international landscape. In Europe, the stakes for voice security have never been higher. For example, 57 percent of Britons say suspicious calls are becoming more frequent, receiving an average of eight per month. In turn, 28 percent report that they are not confident in spotting a genuine call from their bank1.
The financial impact of voice fraud is staggering. Germany lost €267 billion to cybercrime in 2024, with impersonation calls serving as a primary vector2. Meanwhile, complaints regarding unsolicited marketing calls in the region rose by six percent in 20253. In Belgium and the Netherlands, “call-merging” scams—where fraudsters trick victims into merging a fake call with their actual bank—have become a leading threat in the region2.
“In the European market, consumer skepticism has become a massive structural barrier for brands,” said Temim Adwan, EMEA Managing Director at First Orion. “For a global business, the inability to establish a verified identity across borders results in missed connections and a total erosion of customer trust.”
The AI Arms Race: From Spam to Synthetic Identity
This crisis is accelerated by the industrialization of fraud. Bad actors are now using generative AI to weaponize the voice channel with precision.
Security researchers note that fraudsters only need three seconds of audio to create a voice clone with 85 percent accuracy. By the end of 2025, voice cloning crossed the “indistinguishable threshold,” where human listeners can no longer reliably tell the difference between a real person and an AI-generated voice5. Recent surveys show that 81percent of organizations have already been targeted by AI-powered fraud, with nearly one in four adults reporting they have experienced an AI voice scam4.
A Sector-Wide Crisis: Finance, Health, and Insurance
The erosion of the voice channel is hitting critical industries the hardest, where a missed call is service failure and lost revenue.
Solving Global Fragmentation with Branded Identity
“The challenge for any multinational business has always been the fragmentation of the global telecommunications world,” said Temim Adwan. “Without branding, a company must negotiate with dozens of individual carriers in every country just to get their name to show up.”
Our Global Exchange solves this fragmentation by providing a single point of integration. Instead of navigating a maze of international regulations, businesses can reach carriers across Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and beyond through a unified platform. By utilizing CAMARA-standard APIs, we ensure that a “Verified” badge carries the same weight in London as it does in Rome.
Reclaiming Identity Across Borders
Branding beyond our borders is the new standard for global commerce. By providing a unified, authenticated voice, First Orion is ensuring that the next time a business calls, the connection is built on trust rather than doubt.
“Expanding into Europe is more than just a geographic milestone for us,” said Temim Adwan. “It’s about bringing a standardized, secure framework to a market that is hungry for transparency. We are helping businesses reclaim their identity so that consumers, no matter where they are, can answer with confidence.”
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