Notes

Phone Fraud Still a Problem For U.S. Businesses
What has happened to fraud in the telecom industry? Is it still a problem? Do you, as an owner of a company be concerned? Fraudulent phone calls are a concern to all companies, regardless of the many advances in security technology. It's terrifying to consider the possibility of cost of thousands for businesses as a result of phone fraud. Phone fraud can still cause financial ruin to your business. This is a scary thought. Even with the advent of VOIP technology, hackers continue to discover ways to hack even most complex systems. click here like mine and yours could be harmed by this.

Three types of phone frauds should worry the majority of individuals. This article will address each of them. phone call online (cramming, hitting), fraud on the phone system that is proprietary (PBX key system, PBX), voice mail fraud and, the newest challenge, fraud in the VOIP phone.

check here are most likely to encounter nuisance fraud at one time or in another. Also known as slammingor cramming, and other forms of fraud. Although nuisance fraud isn't likely to ruin a company, it could drain profits if it's not included on the phone bill.

Cramming is when a third-party provider charges fees or services which the customer hasn't been authorized to pay for. They cannot be requested or requested by your business. These charges could include services like fake voicemail service charges, operator-assisted call, calling program programs, monthly fees including credit check services and monthly service costs. Also, bogus white pages and yellow pages advertising may also show up on your business phone bills or be charged directly to you.

Cramming is the practice of adding charges to a subscriber's telephone bill for services which weren't requested or ordered by the consumer or for charges for services or calls that were not properly disclosed to the consumer. These charges are often assessed by untruthful third-party providers of communications and data services that phone companies are required, by law, to allow the third-party to add to the bill.

Did you ever look at your phone bill and see strange charges from "other providers" that you didn't recognize? If call phone online have, chances are very good that you've been charged a lot. For large businesses, the charges are buried deep in the bills. They are hard to spot and may go on for months, year after year without being observed.

What are the best ways to obtain refunds or stop the practice of cramming? First, contact your local phone company and ask them for a reversal of the charges. In the majority of cases they will. To file a complaint against them, call the FCC or the FTC or your state attorney general. First, let the crammer understand that you want to give them the opportunity to repay your money.

The term "slamming" refers to when a company offers local, long distance or local toll service , and an unauthorized change or switch. The experience can be very frustrating since dishonest phone companies may easily change or "pick" your long-distance service for their plans, at a more expensive cost than the one you had selected. It is still necessary to change all of your lines to the correct long distance provider and get the refund. How do you stop this? Request your provider to put an "pic freeze" for your telephone lines. If you want access to all your long-distance, local and mobile phone accounts, request the carrier to provide a corporate password. Limit access to these accounts to two employees.

Frauds in the phone system as well as voice mail types of frauds remain common for many businesses. They will persist so long as there is PBX and Key-type phone systems. Long distance calls can be costly and hackers have easy access. It's easier to prevent these kinds of crimes rather than repairing it after it's happened. Let's face the truth hackers, like the rest of criminals, are inefficient. They'll leave your business and move on to something else if you are protected with the right safeguards. Make sure your phone system manufacturer provides master passwords for your phone and voicemail systems are changed when you change your location. Hackers have access to these passwords and are able to attack your system with ease if they are able. A lot of these master passwords for phones (i.e. : Avaya, Siemens, Nortel, Mitel, Cisco) are online and are accessible to anyone. Change your password by calling the organization that services your phone system.

Also, make sure that your remote access to you telephone systems is secured. Remote access to your system may be secured by using encryption technology. Next, make sure that your employees do not use easy passwords like "1111" for accessing their voice mail boxes. These can be easily hacked. It is also possible to set your voice mail system so that it reminds users to update their passwords every 90 days. When employees leave your business, ensure that you remove their unused voicemail boxes as soon as you can. Why? The hacker gains control of the voice mail box and records the word "yes." The hacker then calls an outside call center and places a third party. The operator asks you if you are willing to pay third party charges to cover Mr. Jones' calls. The voice mail box responds, "yes", as it was programmed.

Another major threat to companies today is the problem of weak connections in the employees, specifically the receptionist at the company. This is often called "social engineering fraud." Your receptionist and employees are on guard for any calls that indicate someone could be identified as someone trying to test the lines for the company behind the phone. The caller could state, "I'm with the phone company and am conducting tests of your telephone systems, I'd like to transfer you to a particular extension." To forward a caller's number to an exact number, first dial 9 to access an outside line. "Dialing the number" will access the operator, who is able to make a call from anywhere in the world. The calls are later billed to your company. online phone call are also known to use other ploys such as identifying board members for large companies and then impersonating that individual in a phone call to the company. Because board members do not have contact with receptionists as frequently as employees, it is possible for the receptionist to not recognize their voice. The authority of a board member implies receptionists are able to transfer unlimited amounts to the caller. The majority of the time, the crime is not found until the bill is paid. Inform the employees and receptionists of this ploy. Numerous companies raked in thousands of dollars in international calls due to this fraud.

Look out for a toll-free phone number which your company can make calls to inbound numbers. Hackers are able to call the toll free number and utilize codes and features to make calls overseas or charge service fees on paid calling services.

You must also limit call forwarding and conference features in your company's telephone system. click here will stop hackers from forwarding your calls for you. Make an appointment with your vendor of your phone system to conduct a vulnerability analysis make sure your telephone system is secure. Many of the largest telephone equipment manufacturing vendors, Siemens, Avaya, Nortel and Mitel have security bulletins and security support programs to ensure that your system is secure and up-to-date.

Voice over IP Fraud Third and final issue with telecom voice fraud. Voice over IP fraud is in its early stages but becoming more prevalent. As mentioned previously in the section on phone system fraud, changing the passwords of your system in the VOIP phone system is among the most effective ways to avoid this type of fraud.

There is now increased attention surrounding recent attacks on VOIP systems but actual cases of fraud documented are just beginning to emerge as an issue. In 2007, two people were detained after they routed calls through unprotected network ports from other companies in order to divert calls onto providers. Over the course of three weeks the two men routed nearly one million calls to a VoIP provider. Federal investigators believe that they made as much as $1 million from the fraud. But, actual instances of VOIP fraud on these systems are still somewhat rare, however, there is a lot of risk for harm, as vulnerabilities and holes in security are becoming prevalent and more easily exploitable by hackers who are skilled and resourceful.

VoIP hackers are able to use system passwords to gain access to corporate VoIP voice systems, and can potentially steal millions of minutes of long distance service. How? Hackers research the security bulletins issued by VOIP providers and obtain public information on company IP addresses that are published online, which allows them to hack into the systems of clients. find more devise and use customized software code to decipher access codes and access exposed data ports and computers and data gateways. Hackers might be able to effortlessly make use of default passwords or poorly chosen passwords.

These attacks can be countered and you need to stay up to date with the most recent technology for security and fraud prevention advice. Speak with your VOIP equipment providers to ask for specific information regarding the best method to secure your system. If you have a large VOIP system, it could be beneficial to have a professional conduct a security audit on your system. IP business customers and IT managers need to utilize the most recent encryption methods to access their networks and also train and supervise their employees to ensure the security of their company data and IP system details.

The best method to know whether a fraud in the telecom industry is being perpetrated on an organization is to conduct an extensive telecommunications audit and an exhaustive review of the phone system.





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