The Global Cost of Telephone Fraud is Rising

Telephone system fraud is on the increase and globally it’s costing £25 billion per year.  It happens when you least expect it and it may be something you’ve never considered.

We’re all aware of the increasing threat of cyber crime and the need to make sure our IT systems are sufficiently protected, but what about the organisation’s telephone system?

What is telephone fraud?

Telephone system fraud is an attempt by hackers to gain unlawful access to your telephone system.  It typically occurs where hackers dial through externally, making high numbers of calls, usually to international destinations.  The fraudulent activity is most likely to occur at times when the business is most vulnerable.  For example, during out of office hours, over the weekend and during public holidays.

How do you know if the phone system has been hacked?

Some indicators that you’ve been hacked are:

• Unusual call traffic
• Difficulty to get through to an outbound number
• High value of individual calls

What preventative steps can businesses take?

1. Make sure your password is a strong one and ensure it is changed from the default setting
2. Check what levels of fraud protection are available from the telephone system provider
3. Limit access to maintenance ports
4. Change or delete the passwords of employees who have left the company
5. Limit an individual employee’s ability to make international calls, if they don’t have a requirement to make such calls
6. Review all bills thoroughly on a regular basis
7. Restrict aspects of the telephone system that are not fully utilised.
8. Look out for unusually high call traffic, especially during out of office hours and over public holidays.
9. Ensure any unused mailboxes are secure and if necessary, change the default pin
10. Check the VoIP registrations to the network. Do they need to be limited?

Having the right amount of protection for the type of system being used gives a business peace of mind from such threats.  Which is why the systems we supply have inbuilt toll fraud protection.

Always check with your provider which type of protection is available for the system that is in use.

Contact us today for more information.

We’re here to ensure every business is Smarter through Technology.