Notes

Phone Fraud Still a Problem For U.S. Businesses
What has happened to fraud in the telecom industry? Do you think it is still a problem? Do you, as a business owner be concerned? The issue of phone fraud is a major concern for all businesses, despite the numerous advancements in security technology. The idea of thousands of dollars in the loss of a company because of fraud on the phone is a daunting thought. However, phone fraud is still a threat that could make your business unfit for the market and is terrifying. Even with the advent of VOIP technology, hackers continue to find out ways to hack into even the most complex systems. Companies like mine and yours could still suffer as a result.


There are three primary kinds of phone fraud that most of us should be concerned with and that will be dealt with in this piece. Nuisance fraud (cramming, hitting) as well as fraud on the phone system that is proprietary (PBX Key System, PBX) Voice mail fraud and, the newest issue, fraud in the VOIP phone.

Nuisance fraud: Business professionals are likely to encounter nuisance fraud at one time or another. Also known as slammingor cramming, and other forms of fraud. Although nuisance fraud isn't likely to ruin a business, it can drain profits if it's not addressed on the phone bill.

Cramming is when a third-party provider charges fees or services which the customer hasn't authorized. These charges cannot be ordered or requested by your business. These charges can include products and services, such as fake voice mail service charges, operator assisted calls, call card services, monthly service fees and credit check services. Also, bogus white pages and yellow pages advertising can also mysteriously show up on your business telephone invoices or be billed directly to you.

Cramming refers to the addition of charges to a subscriber's phone bill for services that were not requested or purchased by the client , or charges for services and calls which were not made clear to the customer. The charges are usually imposed by unscrupulous third-party suppliers of data and communication service that phone companies are required, by law, to permit the third-party to add to the bill.

Have you looked at your local telephone bill and found strange charges from "other service providers you aren't familiar with?" It is likely that you've been taken advantage of. Large businesses may have hidden charges in their bills that are difficult to spot. They could continue for years , without anyone conscious.

What can you do to get refunds or stop cramming? First, call your local phone service provider and ask them to reverse the charges to the offending party. In most cases, they will. To file a complaint against them, you can contact the FCC or the FTC or the state attorney general. However, first let the person who crammed you know that you'd like to give them an opportunity to return your money.

The possibility of slamming is when there is an unauthorized switch or change of a service provider that provides local and local tolls or long distance service. It can be a frustrating experience as fraudulent phone companies could easily change or "pick" your long-distance services to their plans at a greater price than the one that you had selected. You still have to switch all your lines to the right long distance provider and get a refund. How can you avoid this? Request that the carrier place the "pic freeze" on your phone lines. To gain access to all of your long-distance, local and cellular phone accounts, request a corporate password. You can restrict access to the accounts to two employees.

Voice mail and phone system fraud: These kinds of scams remain difficult for many companies and will persist for as long as businesses have PBX and Key type phone systems in place and long distance calls cost money and hackers are able to easily gain access. It's easier to prevent these kinds of crimes than to fix it once it's happened. It's a fact hackers, as with others, are lazy. They'll leave your business and go on to do other things if they have adequate security measures. The first step is to ensure that the default passwords that are provided by your phone manufacturer for your phone are changed at your address. Hackers are aware of the passwords and could easily hack your system if they have access. Actually, many of these phone system master passwords (i.e. Many of the master passwords (i.e. Avaya Siemens, Nortel Mitel, Cisco, Mitel, Mitel and Mitel) are available online. Change your password by calling the organization who manages your telephone system.

It is also important to ensure that remote access to your phone systems is secure. This can be accomplished with the help of security encryption technology for remote access to your systems. Also, make sure that employees do not use passwords like "1111" to access their voicemail boxes. These can be easily hacked. You could also set up your voicemail system so that it prompts users to update their passwords every 90 days. Make sure you erase all voice messages that have not been utilized by employees after they leave the company. Why? Hackers gain control over the voicemail system and then records "yes" The hacker then calls an outside operator and connects a third-party. The operator asks if you accept third party charges for Mr. Jones' call and the voice mail box answers, "yes" as programmed.

Another significant threat facing companies in the present is the issue of weak connections in the personnel, particularly the company receptionist. This is often referred to as "social engineering fraud". Employees and your receptionist should be alert for a call that's received, where an individual may identify him/herself as a representative of the company that is conducting tests on lines. They might saying "I'm working for your company and I'm conducting tests on your phone systems. I'd like to transfer you to a certain extension." To transfer a caller to the correct number, first dial 9 to connect to an outside line. "Dialing the number" will access the operator, who is able to make a call anywhere around the globe. cell phone are then back billed to your company. Hackers have also been employed in other ways such as identifying executives of large companies are and then impersonating that individual when they call that company. Because board members rarely have contact with receptionists as frequently as employees, it's possible for the receptionist to not recognize their voice. However, because of the prestige of a board member's power or reputation in the organization, receptionists are aware of their authority, and the caller is able to have unlimited transfer ability to carry out his crime. Most often the crime is not discovered until the bill arrives. Be sure to inform the employee and receptionist of this ploy. Numerous companies raked in thousands of dollars in international calls due to this crime.

If your company has a toll free inbound number, be on alert! Hackers can call in on the toll-free number and make use of features and codes to make calls overseas or make service charges for paid-calling services.

Another thing you should do is limit some call forwarding and conferencing features in your phone system for business that could assist hackers to forward calls to your account. Set up a meeting with your phone system vendor to conduct a vulnerability analysis check that your telephone system is secure. The majority of major phone equipment makers, such as Siemens, Nortel, Nortel, and Mitel have security bulletins to help to keep your system secure.

VoIP fraud Third and final concern regarding telecom voice fraud to be addressed is the latest threat to companies , and that is VOIP fraud. Although fraud using voice over IP isn't yet widely known however, it is becoming common. As we have previously mentioned in the section on phone system fraud, changing the passwords for your system within your VOIP telephone system is one of the best ways you can stop this kind of fraud.

There is now increasing attention to recent attacks on VOIP systems, however actual instances of fraud that have been documented are only beginning to be a problem. Two individuals were detained in 2007 for routing calls through an unprotected network port at other companies in order to connect them with providers. The two men sent half a billion calls to a VoIP provider over three weeks. Federal investigators believe that they could have earned as much as $1 million through the scam. But, actual instances of fraud involving VOIPs on these systems are still somewhat uncommon, but there is plenty of potential for harm as vulnerabilities and holes in security become common and are more easily exploitable by skilled hackers.

VOIP hackers are able to use passwords from companies' systems to gain access to VoIP systems. They can also take millions of minutes of long-distance service. How? What is the procedure? Hackers design and implement custom software code to decipher access codes, gain access to gateways and data ports, and access computers. Hackers may be able to access default or badly chosen passwords.

To stop these attacks against your company and keep updated with the most recent security technologies and VOIP fraud prevention guidelines, consult with your VOIP equipment providers and ask them questions specific to how to best protect your system. It might be beneficial having a professional conduct an audit on your security of your VOIP system, especially if it is an extensive one. IP business users and IT managers need to utilize the most recent encryption methods to access their networks and also train and supervise their employees on effective safeguarding of company information and IP system information.

The best method to know if a telecom fraud is being committed against an enterprise is to perform an extensive audit of telecommunications and a thorough review of the phone system.




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