Fortifying Yourself Against Fraud During The Holidays

Fraudulent actions on individuals, companies, and society at large have become more rampant. Therefore it is important to observe some precautions. Most frauds and theft have led to huge financial loss, client mistrust and even to the fall of most organizations.

Since the holidays are fast approaching, many offices will be closing. This seasonal break in company activity may be taken as an advantage for fraudsters to strike. More threats have been found in the telecommunication industry. A major bridge has been observed by internet telephony providers. This has led us to discuss some major tech frauds. They are:

Personality theft: Also known as caller ID spoofing. It is a kind of fraud where one’s identity is impersonated by another person(an invader). This can be either an individual or an organization’s identity. The hacker acts in a way that it is almost impossible to identify the bridge. If it is a call, voicemail, email, or text message they make it from a valid source.

Robocalling is another form of identity fraud that occurs when hackers programs an auto caller to send a pre-recorded message from a different identity.

High Standard Thief: This type of hacker is aimed at companies. The hackers create a semblance of the companies Telecom platform enables them to redirect calls caused within the private branch exchange(PBX) to another expensive server. This server tracks foreign, unregistered or undefined call charges, causing the company to incur more charges. This attack is often carried out after closing hours.

Subscription theft: This theft is mainly for stealing victims’ accounts information and their subscription with their network. Most of the time, the hacker log out the victim, login their own account and change password. This enables them to have totally access to the account, get more subscriptions and buy new items with the victim’s account details.

Black/grey route theft: Black route is a theft illegal at both ends while grey route is a type of theft that is legal at one end and illegal at the other end. In this type of theft, an invader takes(unknowingly to the owner) the section initial protocol(SIP) accounts and auctions it for a lesser price. However, whether the invader uses the black or grey route, the victims still suffer a huge loss.

Prevention of Fraud

There are ways you can utilize as a business in preventing and managing fraud, especially during holidays;

• Security Inspection: Companies seldom perform system auditing. This is because of the task that comes with it but it is advisable for businesses to undergo a regular examination of their systems. For companies that deal with private branch exchange(PBX) on a general IP address. It is advised to go on a 6months or annual base routine examination of their system, rest assured that their company’s privacy is still in check and functioning.
• Deactivate unused devices: Businesses should deactivate or dispose of all unused devices and accounts that can be used by fraudsters. This is because neglected company information or databases can be used to get information about the company. Like deactivating inactive accounts or changing passwords to accounts on a regular basis.
• Program call parameters: Creating call restrictions is another active way of securing companies from fraud attacks. By setting call limits for both within and outside telephony. The restriction can also be placed on locations so that calls coming from such places can be blocked, as well as take inventory for calls that need to connect in the case of emergencies or outages. Calling parameters are a great way to protect against grey and black route fraud.
• Enable Authentication: Activating IP verification for out-of-state calls is relevant especially if the company’s IP is constant. This will enable the management or individual to detect a different IP address. This is done by enabling verification of IP addresses. Verifying IP will assist in putting a barrier to calls from internal IP systems. In a case where the mobile users are more and from diverse IPs, it is advised for companies to set a blacklist function of IP addresses.

Often times, companies usually employ these fraudsters as employees. To prevent these companies, one could also:

• Have a background check: Most growing companies do not care to do a background check of their new recruits. This can be very risky. Subject every new employee to a check back to at least 8 years. This check should also entail social media, and every information aligned to that Individual.
• Run a credit report: Run credit card check on employee cards to make sure they do not claim an invalid fraud attack.

Other forms of protection include:

• Provide fraud training and awareness for management and staff.
• Have a fraud hotline
• Encourage and reward whistleblowers

Originally published at https://nextplane.net on December 4, 2019.