Insights

Workshop Recap: Toll-Free Traffic Pumping and Fraud

Jun 13, 2017

Security threats are a serious matter in all areas of modern technology; Toll-Free is no exception.  In our recent Toll-Free Traffic Pumping and Fraud workshop, we brought in experts from different intelligence and technology organizations to talk with us and our customers about the security threats that we in the Toll-Free Industry are faced with, and what can be done to guard against them.

From our guest speakers, we learned about the different types of fraud that exist in the industry, including traffic pumping (artificially generating call traffic), Toll-Free hijacking (creating a fake number that is similar to a very popular number in order to pose as the owner of the popular number with the purpose of stealing personal information from the caller), and payphone compensation fraud (faking payphone calls to receive special monetary reimbursement from the Toll-Free Service Provider).  Case studies were presented to demonstrate how criminals have used some of these tactics against Toll-Free Service Providers for malicious purposes and/or personal gain.

In addition to seeing the threats themselves in action, we were also told about how different security measures can be taken to mitigate our organizations’ vulnerability to these various forms of cybercrime. We were educated on the process of call security, and the methods by which calls can be tracked and traced back to their sources.

Finally, we learned about scamming and the different of types of scams used by malicious individuals. These mostly included telephone interactions, in which the scammer used a Toll-Free Numbers to pose as a representative of a legitimate company in order to obtain personal information such as computer passwords/ access, credit card numbers, or other sensitive information that could be exploited for the gain of the scammer.

Toll-Free Numbers are the trusted bridge that keeps communication lines between businesses and customers open, personal, and powerful.  As providers of Toll-Free Numbers, it is our duty to educate ourselves and our end-users about potential misuse of Toll-Free Numbers and how best to mitigate these threats to the precious lines of communication that keep the wheels of commerce turning.  We thank all of our great presenters for sharing their expertise with us, and for giving us the knowledge to work together to keep the Toll-Free Industry safe and secure.

Responsible Organizations (Resp Orgs) can access the presentation slides through the Somos Portal Website (portal.somos.com).