Can Telecoms Fraud Be Eliminated?

Telecoms fraud is big business, with more than $38.95 billion lost to fraud globally in 2023. This is a 12% increase since 2021, and represents 2.5% of telecommunications revenues so you can see that it is a big problem for telecoms companies to address. Here at Xintec, we are committed to combatting fraud using a multi-faceted approach that protects you and your business from revenue leaks across the board.

There are many different types of fraud that can cause major financial and reputational damage to operators, and some of the most common include subscription fraud, PBX fraud, account takeover and service or equipment abuse. Many of these involve account manipulation and this shows a shift since 2021, in which many more issues were related to technological fraud.

Working to Eliminate Telecoms Fraud

The first step in eliminating telecoms fraud when we begin working with a telecoms company is to identify the existing standards and procedures and work out where they are failing. It is important to analyse what your current provision is doing for your business or – in many cases – is not doing. Any areas where your protection is weak will require a new approach, and a thorough audit can highlight potential problems so that more effective solutions can be implemented.

It is not easy to eliminate cybercrime as it is by nature a highly innovative area that is constantly evolving. This is why it is so important to have complete, robust systems in place that attack the risks from every side. It is vital that we recognise the complexity of the risks and address these with a similarly complex solution. At Xintec, we can deliver bespoke, analytics-based solutions that guarantee success so you can achieve the outcomes you need.

Who Does Telecom Fraud Hurt?

Telecommunications fraud is a tricky problem because while it directly affects telecoms companies, both carriers and providers, it also affects end users and everyone ends up paying for it. All of the many forms of fraud are designed to steal money from subscribers or providers, and this is done very cleverly. There are many different types of fraud, including:

• Wangiri Fraud. These are schemes by which fake calls are made, often with a robotic message upon answering. Many people choose not to answer their phones due to the frustration with this type of call, and this leads to significant loss of revenue for telecom companies. There are many different schemes within this type of fraud, including private brand exchange hacking, and Wangiri 2.0, which is designed to target organisations rather than individual customers.

• Over the top (OTT) fraud. OTT fraud is designed for platforms such as WhatsApp and Viber, and this is one of the fastest increasing types of fraud. This usually takes the form of unauthorised account access, spam messaging and content piracy, and is set to grow to account for multi-billion dollar losses in the next few years.

• Social engineering attacks. Human vulnerability is an area ripe for exploitation in the telecoms industry, and social engineering fraud is designed to exploit natural human emotions and the human desires to help and to trust others. This is a very clever type of fraud that is highly sophisticated and makes use of AI and deepfake technologies to personalise fraud attacks.

• Artificially Inflated Traffic (AIT). Artificially inflated traffic is a complex method of fraud in which fake network traffic is generated to raise bills and generate fraudulent income. These schemes rely on the ability of the fraudsters to mimic the activities of legitimate customers, making it very difficult to identify and combat this type of fraud.

• Mobile Roaming Fraud. Mobile roaming charges can be very high, and schemes that seek to profit from this involve exploiting these high fees. Such types of fraud usually divert communications or inflate call and data usage costs to create illegal profit for themselves.

• SIM Swap Scams. SIM swap scams are not new to the industry but continue to cause significant problems. These include phone number hijacking, where the numbers are transferred onto fraudulent SIM cards and used to access accounts and steal personal information that can be used for theft.

Protection for Customers but not Telecom Companies

There are regulatory schemes that are designed to protect the interests of the customers involved in fraud, which can be helpful in many situations. However, there is not usually any protection for telecom companies, who often suffer significant losses and damage to their reputations, in addition to financial losses, and may be penalised for failure to protect their customers from fraud. This is where a robust solution is invaluable, enabling your telecoms company to stay ahead of the curve and make use of the newest technologies to reliably eliminate fraud.

Revolutionary Solutions to Manage and Protect Your Revenue Streams

Our team works hard to create solutions that can fully monetise your network assets, relying on real human intelligence as our starting point. We use our fully integrated platform, iGenuity, to revolutionise the way you manage and protect your revenue streams and this gives you the insights you need to create a flawless system.

We aim to detect and prevent threats to your systems, so that you can look after your interests and those of your customers without worry. Attacking the threat from all potential fraud types at once means you have a comprehensive system that will protect and enhance your existing systems and ensure that all your revenue stays exactly where it should be.

Scalable Solutions for Your Business

At Xintec, our experienced team of architects, technologists and domain experts work to protect financial integrity for telecom companies and their customers. We offer a range of services to ensure a complete solution and we have the expertise to exploit the potential of new value chains as 5G is rolled out.

We deliver off the shelf solutions as well as bespoke packages and we will be happy to discuss the options with you to ensure the best results for your organisation. We are a leading, trusted provider of Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management solutions for telecom and utility providers worldwide and you can contact our trusted and experienced team today.