Like other sectors, insurers’ digital channels are typically well protected from fraud – the blind spot lies in the telephony channel, where the human element leaves organisations exposed. Read on to understand how fraudsters target insurance company contact centres and how to prevent it.
The Association of British Insurers’(ABI) figures reveal £1.1 billion in bogus claims were detected in 2023, plus a 17% increase in fraudulent applications totaling 583,000, as scammers continually look for new opportunities to perpetrate their crimes.
Professional and organised fraudsters will abuse any vulnerabilities they find in systems and processes to defraud insurance companies for financial gain, adapting their approach to the changing environment. And our work with the insurance sector shows that contact centres – which are often more vulnerable than online channels – have become a prime target.
As we expand our customer community, we’re gaining ever-increasing insight into how fraudsters are exploiting contact centres across sectors to gain access to personal data and commit fraud – and we have the tools to help insurance companies to combat it. Read on to find out out how.
Key types of insurance fraud
Application fraud: policy applications using stolen identities or incorrect information in order to reduce the policy premium
Ghost broking: the sale of low cost fake or incorrect insurance policies, often to unwitting victims who only realise when they attempt to make a claim
Bogus claims: fraudulent claims for lost, stolen or damaged property; or fake accident-related personal liability claims
These types of insurance fraud can be tricky to spot using standard checks, especially if the individual applications and claims are carried out online, and the ‘customer’ appears to have all the correct information. But often fraudsters will exploit the relative vulnerability of the contact centre, and when they do, there are certain traits that can help identify them:
- They call to apply for multiple similar policies across multiple providers
- They make multiple mid term changes to policies, such as address changes or adding additional drivers to motor polices
- They make multiple claims, also across multiple providers
- The numbers they use may be known by contact centres from other sectors too, such as banks or telcos
- They may call the contact centre using a withheld phone number to avoid detection
- A caller using the same number can be identified calling about multiple accounts or policies
With the right technology in place, it is possible to spot these patterns and flag callers displaying these traits in the contact centre and stop fraud in its tracks.
How Smartnumbers can help
The Smartnumbers Protect platform offers insurers an additional layer of protection by helping identify suspicious calls in the contact centre.
The key is to analyse incoming calls before they are answered, using Smartnumbers’ platform to check each call for red flags and assign a risk score. The risk score enables contact centres to flag high risk calls and refer the polices for investigation.
The solution monitors inbound calls for the following fraud risk factors:
- Numbers already on the insurer’s denylist
- Numbers other orgnanisations’ denylists (including other insurance companies, large retail banks and telcos)
- Unusual call patterns (such as repeated calls in quick succession)
- Calls from withheld numbers
Deeper analysis of calls flagged with these risk factors, and the policies the calls are associated with, helps fraud teams gain deeper insight into the fraudsters targeting them and the scale of their activity. This enables them to:
Stop insurance fraud in its tracks
Put a hold on quotes, policies and claims that have been confirmed as fraud. Stop further calls from numbers associated with fraudulent activity, before new fraud is committed.
Get a complete picture of fraud in your organisation
Understand what types of fraud are taking place in the contact centre – even in the IVR. Build out fraudster profiles with numbers and tactics used and share with other fraud teams.
Maximise contact centre efficiency
Spot fraud risk the moment a call is received and pass to fraud teams for quick resolution. Enable contact agents to deal with genuine customers without the pressure to spot fraud.
Collaborate across organisations
More than 52% of the numbers we flag as ‘used by fraudsters’ have targeted more than one of our customers. That’s why the ability to securely check denylists, update and share fraudster profiles between organisations within the platform is essential.
To find out more about how Smartnumbers have helped protect a UK insurance company contact centre, get The Proof.
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