Phone Fraud Still a Problem For U.S. Businesses
What happened to fraud in the telecom industry? Does it still exist? Should you as an owner of a company be concerned? Despite massive advances in security technology and greater telecommunication security and customer awareness fraud on the phone continues to pose a significant problem for all businesses. It is frightening to imagine the possible cost of thousands to an enterprise due to phone fraud. However, phone fraud still could cause your company to go out of business and that is an extremely scary prospect. Even with the introduction of VOIP technology, hackers continue to find out ways to hack even most complicated systems and companies such as mine and ours can still suffer as a result.
Three main kinds of phone fraud ought to be of concern to the majority of individuals. This article will discuss them all. Nuisance fraud (cramming and slamming) as well as proprietary phone system (PBX and key system) fraud, voice mail fraud and the newest challenge called VOIP phone system scam.
Nuisance Fraud: Most of us as business professionals will at one time or another come across nuisance fraud, which is also called cramming and slamming. Although it is not likely to make or break any business, it can drain revenues if it's not addressed on the phone bill.
Cramming happens when a third party provider charges for services or charges which the customer hasn't been authorized to pay for. These charges aren't ordered or requested by your business. These charges could include services like bogus voicemail service charges, operator-assisted calls and programs for calling monthly charges and credit check services and monthly service fees. It is also possible to be charged directly for fake white pages or yellow pages that advertise.
phone call online is the addition of charges to a subscriber's telephone bill for services which were neither ordered nor desired by the consumer or for the cost of services or calls that were not properly disclosed to the customer. These charges are typically made by untruthful third-party providers of data or communications services that telephone companies are required to allow to be billed on the bill.
Did you ever look at your phone bill and notice unusual charges from "other service providers" which you're not familiar with? It is likely that you've been scammed. For big businesses they are often buried deeply in the bills and are hard to spot and may continue for many years, month after month, and not be noticed.
What can you do to get refunds or stop spamming? The first step is to contact your local phone firm and request an inverse of the charges. The majority of cases will be retracted. To file a formal complaint against them, you can contact the FCC or the FTC or your state attorney general. But first, let the person who crammed you know that you would like give them an opportunity to return the money you paid.
The term "slamming" refers to when a company offers local, long distance or local toll service , and an unintentional switch or change. Slamming is frustrating because dishonest phone companies can easily to alter or "pic" your long distance service to their plans, often at a significantly higher rate than what your chosen carrier had provided. After you have discovered the scam, there's the issue of changing all of your lines to the long distance service that you have chosen and then requesting the fraud service to give you a refund. How do you stop this? Ask the carrier to put the "pic freeze" on your phone lines. If you want access to all your local, long-distance and mobile phone accounts, request a corporate password. cell phone can restrict access to these accounts to two employees.
Phone system and voice mail fraud: These kinds of frauds continue to be difficult for many companies and will continue to persist for as long as businesses have PBX and Key type phone systems in place. Long distance calls cost money , and hackers are able to gain access. It's easier to prevent this type of fraud rather than repairing it after it's occurred. Let's face the truth, hackers, just like others, are lazy. They'll abandon your company and pursue another one if you don't have adequate security measures. First, make sure that the manufacturer of your phone system has provides master passwords for your voicemail and phone systems are changed when you change your location. Hackers have access to these passwords and could steal your information easily if they are able. online phone call of these master passwords used for phone systems (i.e. : Avaya, Siemens, Nortel, Mitel, Cisco) are on the internet, available to anyone. Changes to passwords is done by making an inquiry with the company that maintains services your telephone systems.
test phone call is also important to make sure that remote access to your phone systems is secure. Remote access to your system may be secured by using encryption technology. Also, make sure that employees don't use simple passwords like "1111" for accessing their voicemail accounts. These passwords are easily stolen. It is also possible to set your voicemail system so that it reminds users to update their passwords every 90 days. Be sure to delete all voicemails that were not utilized by employees after they leave the company. Why? The hacker gains control of the voicemail box and then records "yes" The hacker then contacts an outside operator and connects a third-party. The operator asks if you're willing to pay for third-party calls to cover Mr. Jones' calls. The voice mail box replies, "yes", as it was programmed.
free call are facing a new danger from weak connections in their employees, particularly the company receptionist. It is often referred to as "social engineering fraud." Receptionists and employees must be alert for a call that is received whereby the caller may identify themselves as an employee of the company that is conducting tests on lines. It is possible to hear them say "I'm working for your company and I'm conducting tests on your phone systems. Please transfer me to a particular extension." Transferring free phone call online to certain numbers first connects to an outside line "dialing 9" and "dialing the 0" accesses the outside operator, who will facilitate a call to anywhere within the world for thieves. The calls are then billed to your business. Hackers have also been known to use other ploys for example, such as finding out who are the directors of large corporations are and then impersonating the person on a call to that company. Because board members do not communicate with receptionists as frequently as employees, it is possible for the receptionist to not be able to recognize their voice. But, because of the prestige of a board member's power or reputation in the organization, receptionists are aware of their power, so the caller is able to get unlimited transferring ability to carry out his crime. The crime usually is not discovered until after the arrival of the bill. This scam should be disclosed to the employees and receptionists. This crime was used by a variety of companies to earn thousands of dollars in international calls.
If your business has a toll-free number for inbound calls beware! Hackers can dial the toll-free number and utilize features and codes to make calls overseas and to ring up costs for paid-calling services.
Another thing you should do is limit some calls forwarding and conferencing functions in your phone system for business that could assist hackers in forwarding calls on your dime. To ensure that your phone system's security, talk to your vendor of phone systems to perform a vulnerability assessment. The majority of the major phone equipment manufacturers, Siemens, Avaya, Nortel and Mitel have security bulletins and security support programs that will help ensure that your system is secure and up-to-date.
VOIP fraud the third and last telecom voice fraud issue to be discussed is the most current threat to businesses and it is fraud via VOIP. Voice over IP fraud is in its early stages but is becoming more widespread. Again, as previously stated in the earlier part about phone system fraud, one of the most effective ways to stop this kind of fraud is to change the system passwords on your VOIP phone system.
reverse number on VOIP systems are starting to draw greater attention, but the actual instances of fraud are just beginning to be an issue. Two individuals were detained in 2007 after they routed calls through an ports that were not protected by other companies in order to transfer them to providers. Two men routed half a billion calls to VoIP providers during three weeks. Federal investigators believe the two perpetrators earned up to $1 million through the scam. However, actual instances of VOIP fraud using these systems are unusual, yet there is a lot of potential harm as vulnerabilities and holes in security become common and are more easily exploitable by hackers who are skilled and resourceful.
look at here are able to use system passwords to gain access to corporate VoIP systems and the potential to steal millions of minutes of long distance service. How? What is the procedure? They devise and use customized software code to decipher access codes, and gain access to exposed ports for data and computers and data gateways. Hackers might be able to easily use default passwords or poorly chosen passwords.
To counteract these attacks on your business and stay up-to-date on the latest security techniques and VOIP fraud prevention guidelines for your VOIP equipment vendors and ask specific questions on how to best protect your system. It might be beneficial to engage a professional to conduct a security audit of your VOIP system, particularly if you own a large one. IP business customers and IT administrators must use the latest encryption techniques for their network access and also train and supervise their employees in the effective protection of their company data and IP system data.
A thorough audit of telecommunications is the best way to determine if there is any fraud on the telecoms in an business.
Three main kinds of phone fraud ought to be of concern to the majority of individuals. This article will discuss them all. Nuisance fraud (cramming and slamming) as well as proprietary phone system (PBX and key system) fraud, voice mail fraud and the newest challenge called VOIP phone system scam.
Nuisance Fraud: Most of us as business professionals will at one time or another come across nuisance fraud, which is also called cramming and slamming. Although it is not likely to make or break any business, it can drain revenues if it's not addressed on the phone bill.
Cramming happens when a third party provider charges for services or charges which the customer hasn't been authorized to pay for. These charges aren't ordered or requested by your business. These charges could include services like bogus voicemail service charges, operator-assisted calls and programs for calling monthly charges and credit check services and monthly service fees. It is also possible to be charged directly for fake white pages or yellow pages that advertise.
phone call online is the addition of charges to a subscriber's telephone bill for services which were neither ordered nor desired by the consumer or for the cost of services or calls that were not properly disclosed to the customer. These charges are typically made by untruthful third-party providers of data or communications services that telephone companies are required to allow to be billed on the bill.
Did you ever look at your phone bill and notice unusual charges from "other service providers" which you're not familiar with? It is likely that you've been scammed. For big businesses they are often buried deeply in the bills and are hard to spot and may continue for many years, month after month, and not be noticed.
What can you do to get refunds or stop spamming? The first step is to contact your local phone firm and request an inverse of the charges. The majority of cases will be retracted. To file a formal complaint against them, you can contact the FCC or the FTC or your state attorney general. But first, let the person who crammed you know that you would like give them an opportunity to return the money you paid.
The term "slamming" refers to when a company offers local, long distance or local toll service , and an unintentional switch or change. Slamming is frustrating because dishonest phone companies can easily to alter or "pic" your long distance service to their plans, often at a significantly higher rate than what your chosen carrier had provided. After you have discovered the scam, there's the issue of changing all of your lines to the long distance service that you have chosen and then requesting the fraud service to give you a refund. How do you stop this? Ask the carrier to put the "pic freeze" on your phone lines. If you want access to all your local, long-distance and mobile phone accounts, request a corporate password. cell phone can restrict access to these accounts to two employees.
Phone system and voice mail fraud: These kinds of frauds continue to be difficult for many companies and will continue to persist for as long as businesses have PBX and Key type phone systems in place. Long distance calls cost money , and hackers are able to gain access. It's easier to prevent this type of fraud rather than repairing it after it's occurred. Let's face the truth, hackers, just like others, are lazy. They'll abandon your company and pursue another one if you don't have adequate security measures. First, make sure that the manufacturer of your phone system has provides master passwords for your voicemail and phone systems are changed when you change your location. Hackers have access to these passwords and could steal your information easily if they are able. online phone call of these master passwords used for phone systems (i.e. : Avaya, Siemens, Nortel, Mitel, Cisco) are on the internet, available to anyone. Changes to passwords is done by making an inquiry with the company that maintains services your telephone systems.
test phone call is also important to make sure that remote access to your phone systems is secure. Remote access to your system may be secured by using encryption technology. Also, make sure that employees don't use simple passwords like "1111" for accessing their voicemail accounts. These passwords are easily stolen. It is also possible to set your voicemail system so that it reminds users to update their passwords every 90 days. Be sure to delete all voicemails that were not utilized by employees after they leave the company. Why? The hacker gains control of the voicemail box and then records "yes" The hacker then contacts an outside operator and connects a third-party. The operator asks if you're willing to pay for third-party calls to cover Mr. Jones' calls. The voice mail box replies, "yes", as it was programmed.
free call are facing a new danger from weak connections in their employees, particularly the company receptionist. It is often referred to as "social engineering fraud." Receptionists and employees must be alert for a call that is received whereby the caller may identify themselves as an employee of the company that is conducting tests on lines. It is possible to hear them say "I'm working for your company and I'm conducting tests on your phone systems. Please transfer me to a particular extension." Transferring free phone call online to certain numbers first connects to an outside line "dialing 9" and "dialing the 0" accesses the outside operator, who will facilitate a call to anywhere within the world for thieves. The calls are then billed to your business. Hackers have also been known to use other ploys for example, such as finding out who are the directors of large corporations are and then impersonating the person on a call to that company. Because board members do not communicate with receptionists as frequently as employees, it is possible for the receptionist to not be able to recognize their voice. But, because of the prestige of a board member's power or reputation in the organization, receptionists are aware of their power, so the caller is able to get unlimited transferring ability to carry out his crime. The crime usually is not discovered until after the arrival of the bill. This scam should be disclosed to the employees and receptionists. This crime was used by a variety of companies to earn thousands of dollars in international calls.
If your business has a toll-free number for inbound calls beware! Hackers can dial the toll-free number and utilize features and codes to make calls overseas and to ring up costs for paid-calling services.
Another thing you should do is limit some calls forwarding and conferencing functions in your phone system for business that could assist hackers in forwarding calls on your dime. To ensure that your phone system's security, talk to your vendor of phone systems to perform a vulnerability assessment. The majority of the major phone equipment manufacturers, Siemens, Avaya, Nortel and Mitel have security bulletins and security support programs that will help ensure that your system is secure and up-to-date.
VOIP fraud the third and last telecom voice fraud issue to be discussed is the most current threat to businesses and it is fraud via VOIP. Voice over IP fraud is in its early stages but is becoming more widespread. Again, as previously stated in the earlier part about phone system fraud, one of the most effective ways to stop this kind of fraud is to change the system passwords on your VOIP phone system.
reverse number on VOIP systems are starting to draw greater attention, but the actual instances of fraud are just beginning to be an issue. Two individuals were detained in 2007 after they routed calls through an ports that were not protected by other companies in order to transfer them to providers. Two men routed half a billion calls to VoIP providers during three weeks. Federal investigators believe the two perpetrators earned up to $1 million through the scam. However, actual instances of VOIP fraud using these systems are unusual, yet there is a lot of potential harm as vulnerabilities and holes in security become common and are more easily exploitable by hackers who are skilled and resourceful.
look at here are able to use system passwords to gain access to corporate VoIP systems and the potential to steal millions of minutes of long distance service. How? What is the procedure? They devise and use customized software code to decipher access codes, and gain access to exposed ports for data and computers and data gateways. Hackers might be able to easily use default passwords or poorly chosen passwords.
To counteract these attacks on your business and stay up-to-date on the latest security techniques and VOIP fraud prevention guidelines for your VOIP equipment vendors and ask specific questions on how to best protect your system. It might be beneficial to engage a professional to conduct a security audit of your VOIP system, particularly if you own a large one. IP business customers and IT administrators must use the latest encryption techniques for their network access and also train and supervise their employees in the effective protection of their company data and IP system data.
A thorough audit of telecommunications is the best way to determine if there is any fraud on the telecoms in an business.
Public Last updated: 2023-10-19 07:31:28 AM