Fraud detection and revenue protection

Identifying Telecom Fraud Abuse

Bypass Fraud Detection

An estimated $58 billion is lost annually to fraud and misbilling by network operators – one of the most severe threats to revenue and quality of service worldwide. Revector helps operators address interconnect bypass fraud in real time, effectively tackling the major challenge of revenue loss.

What is Bypass Fraud

Phone calls are sent across the Internet and terminated on a mobile network as a local call through a GSM Gateway (SIM Box). This bypasses an operator’s interconnection point, which denies them the full international revenues, resulting in significant losses. Revector regularly sees 50% of all calls terminated came through an illegal bypass process, while some countries experience up to 90%.

The Revector Solutions

Revector’s flagship Locate & Eliminate SIM Box detection service allows mobile operators to suspend illegal SIM cards from networks within minutes. The award-winning service has been implemented successfully in more than 100 countries worldwide, enabling Revector’s clients to recover millions in lost revenue.

Benefits

Revector’s SIM Box detection product delivers key benefits:

  • Fast: Detects and reports illegal SIMs within minutes for automatic suspension
  • Effective: Employs a diverse and unique portfolio of routes, focusing on routes susceptible to fraud
  • Non-intrusive: Uses highly secure detection equipment that does not interfere with the client’s internal systems
  • Cost-effective: Campaigns tailored to specific operator requirements and timescales for maximum returns
  • Easy to deploy and measure: Revector’s online analytics management tool offers an intuitive and real-time interactive user interface

OTT Bypass Detection

Revector has an extension to its bypass suite of software for fixed line and mobile operators, that protects call termination revenues from Over The Top (OTT) companies such as Viber and WhatsApp.

Calls, originated as mobile-to-mobile voice calls, are connected within Voice Over IP (VoIP) apps on mobile devices. International calls terminated through VoIP rather than as a direct telephone-to-telephone call. This practice, known as OTT Bypass not only impacts the call quality, but also means users do not have access to standard telephony services such as voicemail and call forwarding. In addition to the issues for consumers, this practice severely impacts the revenues of telecommunications operators that would usually be paid to connect the call.

Protect call termination fees and recover lost revenue with Revector’s OTT detection and elimination service.

Revector’s OTT Bypass solution is:

  • Unique: Stops fraud while keeping channels such as Viber, Skype and WhatsApp open to consumers
  • Cost effective: provides network operators with guaranteed return on investment
  • Reliable: identifies OTT hijacked calls and ensures they are routed back through the traditional networks

CLI Spoofing and Detection

Calling Line Identity (CLI) spoofing or Caller ID spoofing is a source of many large scams around the world that involve fraudulent activity against consumers, damages corporate reputation and impacts service providers’ revenues.

CLI spoofing allows the scammer to disguise their identity by deliberately changing the telephone number and/or name relayed as the Caller ID information. This enables them to pretend to be the bank, the government, a reputable private company, or a local number.

Service providers are losing out on termination and interconnect revenues from CLI spoofing as international traffic is spoofed to represent cheaper country rates.

Corporate customer call centres have also been abused by CLI Spoofing, where inbound callers pretending to be legitimate consumers have undertaken activities like SIM-Swap fraud and account take-over.

Revector’s CLI Spoofing detection solution is:

  • Fast: Detects and reports suspicious CLI records from either calls or messaging within seconds for automatic suspension/blocking
  • Effective: Employs advanced anti-detection algorithms and real-time queries to prevent compromise
  • Non-intrusive: Uses highly secure detection equipment that does not interfere with the client’s internal systems or consumer handsets
  • Cost-effective: Campaigns tailored to specific operator requirements and timescales for maximum returns

The modus operandi of CLI Spoofing

There is nothing to stop fraudsters changing the caller ID to mirror that of your bank for instance. If the receiving mobile phone has already got the bank’s phone number stored in its memory/contacts list, the mobile handset will show that Bank details. Similarly, texts from fraudsters using a spoofed number, will show up as being from the bank – often appearing alongside legitimate texts sent out by the bank. Individuals follow instructions provided through these spoofed transactions to compromise their personal information that is used for fraudulent activity.

Lost Revenue

The issues are faced by the individual consumer, the phone service provider and the bank, putting huge emphasis on customer care processes, financial compensations and corporate reputation.

European telecom service providers are witnessing traffic outside the EU changing CLI numbers in real-time to mimic preferential rates such as EU-EU tariffs, this means the European telecom service provider receives EU termination rates but in fact it was actually an international call which should be charged at a much higher rate. Call originators are continuously changing the CLI, never using the same CLI twice making it difficult to identify suspicious calls, causing a massive issue for European telecom service providers as millions of Euros is lost in potential in revenue.

Revector’s CLI Spoofing detection product delivers

  • Fast: Detects and reports suspicious CLI records from either calls or messaging within seconds of the activity for automatic suspension/blocking
  • Effective: Employs advanced anti-detection algorithms and real-time queries to prevent compromise
  • Non-intrusive: Uses highly secure detection equipment that does not interfere with the client’s internal systems or consumer handsets
  • Cost-effective: Campaigns tailored to specific operator requirements and time-scales for maximum returns
  • Easy to deploy and measure: Revector Analytics online management and specific customer web portal with inherent reporting offers an intuitive and interactive user interface

Revector CLI Spoofing Detection

Revector CLI Spoofing Detection is an integrated solution, monitoring the signalling interfaces on the International traffic pipes along with real-time CDRs which generate enquiries (Lookups) to advise if the sending CLI is active. Revector CLI Spoofing Detection combines the network elements in a cloud-based database and provides a real-time report generator to allow quantification of the issue.