Free events help CPs fight £1.3 billion fraud risks

If there's one thing that's on the up in these downturn days, it's crime. Fraud already costs the UK telecoms industry around £1.3 billion a year and now a resurgence in Dial Through Fraud (DTF) is likely to see that figure hitting new heights.

To alert Communications Providers to the risks of attacks from fraudsters and hackers, BT Wholesale recently joined forces with The Telecommunications United Kingdom Fraud Forum (TUFF) to host two free events. Raising awareness and vigilance was one aim. But also on the agenda were the practical steps that Providers and their customers can take to help protect themselves and cut the impact and the cost of crime.

As the biggest threat, DTF - or 'PBX hacking' as it's also known - got special attention. This is where phone systems are hacked into remotely - often from thousands of miles away - and then used to make unauthorised calls at the expense of the companies involved.

Commenting on the events, Judy O'Keefe, Head of the Financial Risk & Revenue Protection Centre of Excellence, BT Wholesale, says: "I am delighted with the positive feedback from the attendees. BT takes the issue of telecommunications fraud very seriously. It can result in financial losses and reputational damage for service providers and their business customers, which in the current economic climate we can ill afford. This is why BT has aligned with TUFF to raise awareness and help customers and the industry as a whole to combat fraud."

BT Wholesale took the opportunity to announce the launch of a new anti-fraud weapon called SPHUR Lite. This lower cost version of the SPHUR reporting tool sends out a warning email to the CP when calls on their customers' lines cross a specific daily spend threshold. Settings available include international, mobile and premium rate services: all call destinations that fraudsters find the most attractive and that can potentially add up to the biggest losses for businesses. 

Virgin Media's Patricia Turner - who attended one of the events - comments: "Fraud prevention needs to be standard practice across the industry. We need to collaborate as a group to stop this serious, organised crime and be mindful that this is an international phenomenon - not one that affects just the UK. Let's work together on this as an industry, share the intelligence and information - particularly as these criminals will move from one service provider to another, affecting us all. We need to be as proactive, and committed as possible, and move forward to stop this from happening and take preventative action where we can."

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WLR Service Provider? Pass traffic via Wholesale Calls? Find out more about our new SPHUR Lite reporting tool by getting in touch with Aileen O'Mahony: aileen.omahony@bt.com Or contact your BT Wholesale account management team.

Find 13 Top Tips to help you and your business customers to beat not only fraud but the crunch too in this issue here.

Look out for news of future BT-hosted anti-fraud events in The Loop.

Find out more about TUFF here: www.tuff.co.uk