How we protect telco contact centres
Fraudsters target telco customer accounts to gain access to their personal information and payment details, as well as the means to make high cost calls and purchases.
Telco fraud can be hard to spot
Typical types of telco fraud, such as identity fraud, customer account takeover and SIM swapping, can be tricky to spot in the contact centre. But there are certain traits that can help identify calls from fraudsters:
- Calls received from the same number for multiple customer accounts
- Calls to make multiple small changes to customer account(s), such as email or address changes
- Multiple, frequent calls from the same number to the contact centre IVR
- Caller is attempting to avoid detection by withholding their number
- Numbers used may be known to contact centre fraud teams in other companies and sectors, such as banks or insurance companies
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 fraudsters in their tracks.
Delivering value for telcos
Our work with telecommunications companies enables Smartnumbers to explore the scale of fraud in their contact centre in more detail. A recent case study brings this to life.
We analysed and flagged inbound call details for a period of one month. A few things we discovered:
- 100 new fraudster profiles were identified (an individual or organised crime groups and the phone numbers and tactics they use)
- 219 fraud-related calls were made by the top 5 fraudsters during the test period
- 78 customer accounts were the focus of a targeted attack during this time
- Fraudsters were attempting to: steal more customer details; access payment accounts or bank details; change email and address details; and initiate SIM swaps
Based on this study, the telco estimates that ⅔ of fraudulent activity in their contact centres was being missed, especially the early-stage data gathering calls.
