Phone Fraud Still a Problem For USA Businesses
Whatever happened to telecom fraud? Is it still a problem? Are you as a business proprietor, need to be concerned? Fraudulent phone calls are a concern to all companies, despite the numerous advancements in security technology. look at here of thousands of dollars of the loss of a company because of phone fraud is daunting. However, phone fraud still could cause your company to go out of the market and is a scary proposition. Even with the advent of VOIP technology, thieves continue to find out ways to hack even most complex systems. Companies like mine and yours could still suffer as a result.
Three kinds of phone fraud ought to be of concern to the majority of people. This article will address them all. Nuisance fraud (cramming and slamming) and the proprietary phone system (PBX and key system) fraud, voice mail fraud and the most recent threat called VOIP phone system scam.
Nuisance fraud: Business professionals are likely to be a victim of nuisance fraud at one point or another. Also called slamming, cramming, and other forms of fraud. It is not a common practice to make or break a business in the event that it happens but it could drain revenue if not properly inspected on the phone bill.
Cramming occurs the process whereby a third party is charged for services or fees that the customer has not authorized. These charges aren't ordered nor desired by your company. They could include items and services such as bogus voice mail charges operators assisted calls calling card programs, monthly service charges and credit check services. Additionally, fake yellow pages and white pages advertising can also mysteriously show up on your business phone invoices or be billed directly to you.
Cramming refers to the addition of charges to a subscriber's bill for services which were not ordered or desired by the client , or charges for services and calls which were not made clear to the consumer. These charges are typically made by untruthful third-party providers of data or communications services that telephone companies are required to allow to be added to the bill.
Have you ever looked at your phone bill and see strange charges from "other providers" which you're not familiar with? Chances are you have been victimized. Big companies could have hidden charges on their bills that are hard to see. They can continue for a long time without anyone being conscious.
How can you get refunds or stop spamming? First, call your local phone service provider and ask for them to reverse the charge to the party who was responsible for the cramming. Most likely they will. If they are not cooperating, call the FCC as well as your state's attorney general, and the FTC to file an FTC complaint. The first step is to inform the crammer that you'd like to give them the opportunity to repay your cash.
Slamming can occur when there is an illegal switch or change of a service provider that provides local, local toll or long distance services. It can be a frustrating experience as untruthful phone companies can easily change or "pick" your long-distance services for their plans, at a higher price than the one that you had selected. If you do discover the fraud, there is the issue of changing all your lines back to the long distance service you should have and getting the fraud service to give you a refund. How can you avoid this? Ask your carrier to place an "pic freeze” on your phone lines. Request an official password for access to accounts for local, cellular, and long distance phone accounts and limit access to those accounts to two key people in your business.
Phone system and voice mail fraud: These types of frauds continue to be difficult for many companies and will continue to be a problem in the long run, as long as companies have PBX and Key type phone systems in place and long distance calls cost money , and hackers are able to easily gain access. It is easier to avoid this kind of fraud than to fix it once it has occurred. It's a fact hackers, like the rest of criminals are inefficient. They'll just leave your company and move on to another one if you don't are protected with the right safeguards. Make sure your phone system manufacturer provided master default passwords for your voicemail and phone systems are changed at your location. Hackers are aware of these passwords and are able to access your system if they have access. A lot of these master passwords used for phone systems (i.e. many of these master passwords (i.e. Avaya Siemens, Nortel Mitel, Cisco, Mitel, Mitel and Mitel) can be found online. Changes to passwords can be accomplished by making a call to the company responsible for maintaining services to your telephone systems.
It is also important to make sure that your telephone systems' remote access is secured. Remote access to your system can be secured using security encryption technology. Then, ensure that your employees don't use easy passwords like "1111" to access their voicemail boxes. They are easily hackable. You could also set up your voicemail system so that it prompts users to update their passwords at least once every 90 days. If employees quit the company, make sure that you delete their unused voicemail boxes as soon as you can. Why? The hacker takes control of the voicemail box and starts recording "yes" The hacker calls an outside call center and makes a call to a third party. The operator asks if you are willing to pay third-party charges for Mr. Jones' calls. The voice mail box replies, "yes", as programmed.
A major risk to businesses present day is the issue of weak relationships in their employees, specifically the receptionist at the company. This is sometimes called "social engineer fraud". Receptionists and employees must be aware of a call that is received whereby an individual may identify him/herself as someone working for the company that is testing lines. They might speak to you "I'm working for your company and I'm conducting tests on your phone systems. Transfer me to a specific extension." To transfer a caller to the correct number, first dial 9 to connect to an outside line. "Dialing the 0" will connect you to the operator who can make calls anywhere in the world. The calls are then back billed to your company. Hackers also have other techniques, like identifying the executives of large companies and impersonating them in calls to the company. The receptionist might not be able to recognize their voice, as typically board members don't interact with receptionists in the same way employees do. However, due to the prestige of a board member's influence or status within the organization, receptionists are fully aware of their authority, and the person calling them can gain unlimited transfer power to commit his crimes. The majority of the time, the crime is not identified until the bill is due. This ploy should be exposed to the employees and receptionists. This ploy was employed by a variety of companies to earn thousands of dollars in international calls.
If your business has a toll free inbound number beware! blog are able to call the number toll free and make use of features and codes to make calls overseas or make service charges for paid calling services.
Another thing to do is restrict some call forwarding and conferencing features in your phone system for business that might assist hackers to forward calls on your dime. Arrange to meet with your vendor of your phone system to conduct a vulnerability analysis ensure that your telephone system is secured. A lot of the top telephone equipment makers, such as Siemens, Nortel, Nortel and Mitel are armed with security bulletins that can aid in keeping your phone security system secure.
VOIP fraud: The third and last telecom voice fraud issue to be discussed is the most current threat to companies , and that is fraud through VOIP. Fraud via Voice over IP is in its early stages but is becoming more widespread. Again, as previously discussed in the previous section concerning phone system fraud one of the most effective ways to avoid this type of scam is to change the system passwords on your VoIP phone system.
Recent hacks on VOIP systems are beginning to attract more attention, but actual cases of fraud are just beginning to become an issue. In 2007, two individuals were detained for routing calls through unprotected network ports from other companies in order to divert calls onto providers. Over three weeks, the two men routed half 1 million phone calls to a VOIP service. Federal investigators believe that the two made as much as $1m through the scam. While actual cases of fraud involving VOIPs are uncommon, it is possible to cause serious harm by exploiting security holes and vulnerabilities that are becoming more prevalent.
VOIP hackers are able to use passwords from companies' systems in order to access VoIP systems. They can also get millions of minutes of long distance service. How? How? They design and apply custom software codes to crack access codes and gain access to ports for data and computers and data gateways. Hackers might be able to easily use default passwords or poorly chosen passwords.
These attacks can be countered and you should keep current with the most current technology for security and fraud prevention advice. Speak with your VOIP equipment vendors to obtain specific information regarding the best method to secure your system. If you are the owner of a massive VOIP system, it might make sense for you to hire a professional to conduct a security audit on your system. IP business consumers and IT managers need to make use of the most advanced encryption methods for their network access as well as train and monitor their employees to ensure the security of company information and IP system data.
A thorough audit of telecommunications is the best method to find out whether there is any type of telecom fraud within an company.
