What happened to telecom fraud? Are there still problems with telecom fraud? Are you as a business owner, need to be worried? The issue of phone fraud is a major concern to all companies, regardless of the many advances in technology for security. The mere idea of thousands of dollars in loss to businesses as a result of fraud on the phone is a daunting thought. However, make phone call is still a threat that could cause your company to go out of business and that is a scary proposition. Even with the advent of VOIP technology, hackers continue to discover ways to break into complex systems, and companies like mine and yours are still susceptible to being hacked.
There are three primary kinds of phone fraud that most of us are concerned about and which will be dealt with in this piece. Nuisance fraud (cramming, smashing), fraud in the phone system that is proprietary (PBX Key System, PBX) Voice mail fraud, and the latest challenge, fraud in VOIP phones.
Nuisance fraud Business professionals are most likely to come across nuisance fraud at one point or in another. Also known as slammingor crumbing, and various other types of fraud. Although nuisance fraud isn't likely to cause a major disruption to any business, it can deplete revenue if it is not addressed on the phone bill.
Cramming occurs when a third party provider is charged for services or fees that the client did not authorize. find here cannot be requested or requested by your business. These costs could include things like bogus voicemail service charges, operator-assisted phone calls and programs for calling, monthly fees including credit check services and monthly service fees. It is also possible to be charged directly for bogus yellow or white pages that advertise.
Cramming is the practice of adding charges to a subscriber’s phone bill for services that were not ordered or desired by the client , or charges for services or calls which were not made clear to the consumer. These charges are typically caused by untrustworthy third party suppliers of information or communication services that telephone companies are required to permit to be placed on the bill.
Have check here looked at your local phone bill and found strange costs from "other service providers you don't recognize?" If so, area code to find that you've seen a large amount of charges. For call cell phone are often buried deep within the bills and are difficult to notice and may go on for many years, month after month, without being recognized.
How do you fight cramming and get refunds? The first step is to contact your local telephone service provider and ask for them to reverse the charge to the offending party. In most cases they will. If they do not cooperate with you, then make contact with the FCC or your state's attorney general, and the FTC to file an FTC complaint. The first step is to make sure that the person who crammed you understands that you want to give them the chance to reimburse your funds.
Slamming is when a carrier provides long distance, local or local toll service , and an unintentional switch or alteration. It is a frustrating experience because fraudulent telephone companies are able to change or "pic" your long distance service on their plans, often at a significantly higher rate than what your chosen service provider has offered. Even after you discover the fraud, there's an issue of switching all of your lines to the long distance provider you should have and getting the fraudulent service to issue you a reimbursement. What can you do to stop it? Request that the carrier place the "pic freeze" on your phone lines. Request an official password for access to every local, cellular and long distance accounts. phone call online should also limit access to these accounts to two key people in the company.
Frauds within the phone system as well as voice mail kinds of frauds are still an issue for many businesses. click for info 'll continue to be a problem as long as there is PBX and Key-type phone systems. Long distance calls can be expensive and hackers can gain access to. It is easier to avoid this kind of fraud than fixing it after it has occurred. We have to admit it hackers, as with others are inefficient. They'll just leave your company and go on to do other things if they have the proper safeguards. First, make sure that your phone system's manufacturer has supplied master default passwords for your voicemail and telephone systems are changed when you change your place of residence. Hackers have access to these passwords and can steal your information easily if they are able. Many of these master passwords used for phones (i.e. : Avaya, Siemens, Nortel, Mitel, Cisco) are online, and accessible to anyone. You can change your password by calling the company that manages your telephone system.
Make sure your remote access to you telephone systems is secure. This can be accomplished by using security encryption technology to secure remote access to your system. Also, make sure that employees do not use passwords like "1111" to access their voicemails. read here are easily hackable. It is also possible to set your voice mail system to ensure that it reminds users to update their passwords at least once every 90 days. When employees leave the business, ensure that you delete their unused voicemail boxes in the shortest time possible. Why? Hackers take the control of the voice mail box and then records the word "yes." He then connects to a third party and instructs the outside operator to call the number of your former employee's old mailbox. The operator asks you if you are willing to pay for third-party calls to cover Mr. Jones' calls. The voice mail box replies, "yes", as programed.
A major risk to businesses present day is the issue of weak connections in the employees, specifically the company receptionist. It is commonly described as "social engineer fraud". Employees and your receptionist should be alert for a call that is received in which an individual may identify him/herself as an employee of the company that is conducting tests on lines. They might say, "I'm with the phone company and am conducting tests of your telephone systems, please transfer me to a particular extension." To transfer a caller the correct number, first dial 9 to access the outside line. "Dialing the number" will access the operator, who is able to make a call anywhere in the world. The calls are then billed back to the company. Hackers may also employ different techniques, for instance, identifying the board members of large companies and impersonating them on calls made to your company. The receptionist might not be able to identify their voice, as typically board members don't communicate with receptionists the same way that employees do. The power of a board member means receptionists have the ability to transfer unlimited amounts of money to the caller. The criminal usually isn't discovered until after the arrival of the phone bill. This scam should be disclosed to receptionists and employees. This ploy was employed by many companies to make thousands of dollars in international calls.
If your company has a toll free inbound number, be on alert! Hackers may dial the toll-free number and utilize features and codes to make calls from overseas, and even to raise charges on paid calling services.
You should also restrict call forwarding and conference features in your company's telephone system. This will stop hackers from using your phone to forward calls for you. To ensure your phone's security, you should meet with the vendor of your phone system to conduct a vulnerability analysis. Most of the larger telephone equipment manufacturing vendors, Siemens, Avaya, Nortel and Mitel have security bulletins and security support programs to help keep your systems safe and up to date.
VoIP fraud Third and last telecom voice fraud issue to be discussed is the most recent threat to companies , and it is fraud through VOIP. The fraud involving Voice over IP is in its early stages but is becoming more widespread. As discussed in the previous section concerning phone system fraud one of the most effective methods to avoid this type of scam is to change the system passwords on your VoIP phone system.
Recent attacks on VOIP systems are starting to attract more attention, however actual fraud cases are only beginning to become a problem. Two individuals were detained in 2007 for routing calls through ports that were not protected by other companies in order to transfer them to providers. Two men transferred half a billion phone calls to a VoIP service over three weeks. Federal investigators believe that the two made as much as $1m from the scam. However, actual instances of VOIP fraud using the systems are uncommon, but there is plenty of potential for harm because weaknesses and gaps in security are becoming frequent and easily exploited by resourceful hackers.
VoIP hackers could hack into passwords on systems to gain access to company VoIP voice systems, the potential to steal millions of minutes of long distance service. How? Hackers read up on the security bulletins of VOIP vendors and collect public information about company IP addresses that are publicized online, which permits them to gain access to the systems of clients. They create and implement customized software code to decipher access codes and gain access to data ports , computers and data gateways. Hackers may be able to quickly make use of default passwords or poorly chosen passwords.
These attacks can be countered and you must stay up-to-date with the most current technologies for security and fraud prevention advice. Speak with your VOIP equipment vendors to ask for specific information regarding the best method to secure your system. If you have a large VOIP system, it may make sense for you to have a professional perform a security audit of your system. Modern encryption methods are necessary for business IP users as well as IT managers. They must also educate and supervise employees in order to ensure the effective security of the company's data.
A thorough audit of telecommunications is the most effective way to find out if there is any telecom fraud in an organization.