With more than $2 billion USD of revenue lost every year to
interconnect fraud, it’s no wonder why mobile operators around the world
are focused on reducing illegal bypass termination, which represents the single largest contributor to interconnect fraud.
To circumvent calling rates,
many subscribers in emerging markets have multiple phones to take advantage of
offers that allow them to talk for free to subscribers on the same network. The
same idea applies to termination of calls: by using multiple mobile phones
(with multiple SIM cards) for each network, illegal terminators can direct
calls onto the corresponding network. Calls will come into the country over the
internet to a specific connection, then terminate via a mobile phone (or a rack
of SIMs) which are in reality connected to the imposter’s computer.
Bypass fraud is more prevalent
in the countries where the cost of terminating an international call is
considerably higher than that of a national call. This is most prevalent in
many parts of Africa and the Middle-East. Fraudsters (individuals or
organisation) will sell capacity to terminate calls in these countries at much
cheaper rates, on the open market. They may even have direct connections to
some operators. The end user (subscriber) is usually unaware of this sort of
fraud but will experience delays, bad call quality and reduced services such as
no caller id.
Illegal termination
circumvents the regulated mobile operators who are allowed to take foreign
calls coming into a given country. In some countries, industry experts estimate
that as much as 70% of mobile traffic is terminated on illegal routes.
The technology to commit this
type of fraud is readily available and is fairly easy to set up, break down,
and set up somewhere else. How can operators get ahead of this
profit-draining trend?
Mobile operators have two
lines of defense:
- Live traffic analysis based solutions: these capture live customer traffic Call Detail Records (CDRs) from local switches and use rules to detect subscriptions/phone numbers with suspicious call patterns
- Test call based solutions: these generate end-to-end controlled test calls from overseas into the target mobile network where test nodes are placed to receive the calls. The Calling Line Identification (CLI) is inspected.
Both approaches have their
advantages and are effective when used in combination, particularly
whenoperators also work closely with regulatory bodies to ensure prompt legal
action. The test call based approach has the distinct advantage of speed: a
test call-based system can pinpoint a SIM box number with a single call.
As with any type of fraud,
speed is important since the way to remove illegal bypass from the network is
to eliminate potential profits for the fraudster. Continuously and
rapidly blocking the fraudulent SIM cards becomes a nuisance for the fraudster,
prompting them to look elsewhere for easier prey.
To combat this type of fraud
successfully, operators are beginning to deploy solutions that generate
continuous test calls from overseas into the target network—and do so in a
variety of ways. Since only some of the traffic into the country will be
subject to illegal bypass, an effective solution must be able to simulate a
large variety of traffic streams into the target network.
Indeed, fraud has become big
business in the mobile world—and its attraction as a lucrative “get rich” quick
scheme only promises to grow as subscribers in emerging markets and
international calling plans rise. But with the right approach, mobile operators
can fight fire with fire.
For more
recommendations and best practices on how to sniff out mobile fraud
visit us at AfricaCom stand P84
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