Compared to digital channels the contact centre can often be overlooked, making the contact centre a weak link and critical fraud vulnerability.
Rather than a reliance on cumbersome and ineffective knowledge-based verifications, Gartner advises that “organisations must deploy a layered defence of identity proofing, fraud detection and authentication capabilities, closely coupled with tighter integration into cross-channel fraud detection systems.” 1
To effectively fight contact centre fraud, Gartner suggests: “There are four key pillars to preventing fraud within the contact center channel itself, and also preventing the contact center being exploited to carry out fraud in other channels:
- Identify callers — This typically relies on static personally identifiable information (PII) data, and only identifies the account that the caller wishes to discuss and the identity that they are claiming.
- Assess fraud risk — Look for risk signals such as spoofing of caller ID or a recently swapped SIM card, in addition to one-to-many comparisons of phone prints or biometric voiceprints.
- Establish trust in the claimed identity — Use dynamic knowledge-based verification (KBV) or authenticate via other channels for first-time callers based on whether they are existing customers or not. Returning callers leverage one or a combination of authentication factors: knowledge (such as a PIN), possession (such as a verified phone number) and/or inherence (such as voiceprint).
- Cross-channel analytics — Integrate contact center fraud screening into a unified account-level fraud management process that encompasses all customer-facing channels.”
For more detail about what Gartner recommend to reduce contact centre fraud, complete the form for complimentary access.
1 Source: Gartner, Quick Answer: How Do You Reduce Fraud in the Contact Center (Phone) Channel?, Akif Khan, Jonathan Care , Tricia Phillips 30 September 2021.
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