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 around? Are you as a business proprietor, need to be concerned? click here are a concern to all companies, regardless of the advancements in security technology. It's frightening to consider the possibility of cost of thousands for a business because of phone fraud. However, phone fraud is still a threat that has the potential to put your business out of business , and that's a scary proposition. Even with the advent of VOIP technology, thieves continue to find out how to hack even the most complex systems. Companies like mine and yours could be harmed by this.

There are three main types of phone fraud that most of us are worried about and will be discussed in this article. Nuisance fraud (cramming and slamming), the proprietary phone system (PBX and key system) fraud as well as voice mail fraud. the most recent threat, VOIP phone system fraud.

Nuisance Fraud: Many of us as business professionals will at some time or another encounter nuisance fraud, which is also known as slamming and cramming. Although it is not likely to cause a major disruption to any business, it can deplete revenues if it's not mentioned on the bill.

Cramming occurs when a third-party provider charges for services or charges that the client hasn't approved. They cannot be requested or requested by your company. They can be a result of products and services such as bogus voice mail service charges, operator assisted calls, calling card programs, monthly service fees as well as credit check services. Additionally, you could be charged for fraudulent white pages or yellow pages that advertise.

Cramming is the practice of adding costs to a subscriber's bill for services that were neither ordered nor desired by the consumer or for charges for services or calls which were not disclosed to the customer. The charges are usually imposed by unscrupulous third-party suppliers of communications and data services that telephone companies are required, under law, to allow the third-party to place on the bill.

Have you looked over your local telephone bill and noticed strange costs from "other service providers you don't recognize?" If so, it's likely that you've seen a large amount of charges. For big businesses, the charges are buried deep within the bills and are difficult to notice and may go on for years, month after month without being observed.

What can you do to get refunds and stop cramming? The first step is to contact your local phone firm and request an inverse of the charges. In the majority of cases they will. If they do not cooperate, call the FCC, your better state attorney general, or the FTC to file a complaint. The first step is to inform the crammer that you'd like to give them the chance to reimburse your funds.

It can happen when there is an unauthorized switch or change of a carrier providing local and local tolls or long distance service. It is a frustrating experience because fraudulent phone companies can easily to change or "pic" your long distance service on their plans, often at a significantly higher rate than the one you had chosen or preferred carrier had provided. After you have discovered the fraud, there's an issue of switching all of your lines to the long distance provider you should have and getting the fraud service to give you a refund. What can you do to stop it? Request that the carrier place an "pic freeze" on your phone lines. Insist on a corporate password for access on your every local, cellular, and long distance accounts. You should also restrict all access to those accounts to two key people in your company.

Phone system and voice mail fraud: These kinds of scams remain an issue for many businesses and will continue to persist as long as companies have PBX and Key type telephone systems in place. Long distance calls are expensive and hackers are able to gain access. It is easier to avoid this kind of fraud than fixing it after it has occurred. It's a fact hackers, as with others, are inefficient. They'll leave your business and go on to do another one if you don't have adequate security measures. Make sure that the master default passwords provided by your phone manufacturer for your phone are changed at your address. Hackers have the passwords and could easily attack your system if have access. In fact, many of these master passwords (i.e. The majority of the master passwords (i.e. Avaya Siemens, Nortel Mitel, Cisco, Mitel, Mitel and Mitel) can be found on the internet. The change of passwords is done by making an inquiry with the company that manages your phone systems.

Also, make sure that the remote access to your telephone systems is secured. This is usually accomplished with the help of encryption technologies for security to ensure remote access to your system. Also, make sure that employees aren't using simple passwords, such as "1111" for accessing their voicemail boxes. These can be easily hacked. You could also set up your voice mail system so that it will prompt employees to change their passwords at least every 90 days. When employees leave the company, ensure that you delete their unused voicemail boxes as soon as you can. Why? The hacker gains control of the voicemail box and starts recording "yes" The hacker then assigns the call with a third party, and tells the outside operator to call the number for your departed employee's mailbox. The operator then asks if you're willing to pay third-party charges for Mr. Jones' calls. The voice mail box replies, "yes", as programmed.

Another significant threat facing companies in the present is the issue of weak connections in the personnel, particularly receptionists at companies. This is sometimes described as "social engineering fraud." The employees and your receptionist must be alert to any call received in which an individual may identify himself/herself as someone who is testing the lines of the phone company. You might hear them say "I'm working for your company and I'm running tests on your phone systems. Transfer me to a particular extension." To transfer a caller a certain number, you first dial 9 to connect to the outside line. "Dialing the number 0" will access the operator, who is able to make a call anywhere around the globe. The calls are then back being billed to your business. Hackers may also employ different techniques, for instance, identifying the executives of large companies and impersonating them on calls made to your company. Because board members rarely interact with receptionists as often as employees, it's possible that the receptionist will not recognize their voice. However, because of a board member's prestige, authority or standing in the organization, receptionists are fully aware of their authority, and the perpetrator can get unlimited transferring ability to commit his crimes. The crime is usually not identified until after the receipt of the bill. This ploy should be exposed to both receptionists and employees. Numerous companies milked for thousands of dollars through overseas calls as a result of this crime.

Keep an eye out for a toll-free number that your business could use for inbound calls. Hackers can call in on the number toll free and use codes and features to place calls from overseas or to make service charges for paid-calling services.

You must also limit the conference feature and call forwarding on the phone system of your business. This will prevent hackers from transferring your calls to you. Set up a meeting with your phone system vendor to conduct a vulnerability analysis make sure your telephone system is safe. The majority of the major phone equipment manufacturers, Siemens, Avaya, Nortel and Mitel provide security bulletins and security support programs to keep your systems safe and up to date.

Fraud through VOIP: The third and last telecom voice fraud issue to be discussed is the most current threat to businesses and it is fraud through VOIP. Although voice over IP fraud is not yet fully established however, it is becoming frequent. As mentioned previously in the section on phone system fraud, changing the system passwords within your VOIP telephone system is one of the best ways you can stop this kind of fraud.

Recent attacks against VOIP systems are starting to get more attention, but actual cases of fraud are only beginning to become an issue. Two individuals were detained in 2007 after they routed calls through an unprotected network ports at different companies to transfer them to providers. The two men routed half a billion calls to VoIP providers in the span of three weeks. Federal investigators think they made as much as $1 million from the scam. While actual instances of VOIP fraud are not common however, it is still possible to cause severe damage through exploiting security gaps and vulnerabilities that are becoming more frequent.

VoIP hackers could use system passwords to gain access to corporate VoIP systems and the potential to steal millions of minutes of long distance. How? Hackers research the security bulletins issued by VOIP providers and collect public information about the IP addresses of companies that are posted online, which allows them to hack into client systems. Hackers develop and utilize customized software to decipher access codes, connect to gateways and ports for data, and access computer systems. Hackers might be able to effortlessly use default passwords or poorly selected passwords.

To counteract these attacks on your company and keep updated on the latest security techniques and VOIP fraud prevention advice and recommendations, talk to the VOIP equipment suppliers and ask them questions specific to how to best protect your system. If you are the owner of a massive VOIP system, it might be beneficial to hire a professional to perform a security audit of your system. IP business users and IT managers need to use the latest encryption techniques for access to their network and also train and supervise their employees on effective safeguarding of company data as well as IP system details.


The best way to determine whether a fraud in the telecom industry is being committed on an organization is to do an extensive telecommunications audit and thorough review of the phone system.




Here's my website: https://inprise.com/