Focused on phone fraud prevention and securing the increasingly ubiquitous voice interface, Pindrop® Labs’ analyzed over half a billion calls to determine that call center fraud has increased 113% from 2015 to 2016. Last week, Dr. David Dewey, Pindrop’s Director of Research, hosted an online discussion regarding staggering statistics around the growing fraud problem in the call center and how to secure your call center while also improving customer experiences.
New research from Pindrop® Labs revealed there has been an additional 22% increase in call center fraud from 2016, meaning there has been a 160% increase in overall call center fraud from the previous year. Fraudsters are catching onto the vulnerability of enterprises – the call center.
Attacker Sophistication and Experience
The ubiquity of tools and techniques has allowed fraudsters to take advantage of apps, VoIP and cheap mobile phones, as well as fraud rings. These techniques utilized by fraudsters are maturing, allowing them to be more subversive and clever when it comes to gathering sensitive information.
Availability of Information from Data Breaches
Data breaches in the United States have increased by 40% – an all-time high, making information more easily available for fraudsters. Knowledge based authentication questions (KBAs) are used within the call center as a method of authenticating customers, however, fraudsters can use information from these breaches to easily bypass KBAs.
Weak Call Center Security
The call center is often overlooked, left behind as the most vulnerable channel. Fraudsters can easily spoof caller ID or use IVR for reconnaissance, and as the call center agent’s responsibility is to focused on the customer, they can fall prey to social engineering and fail to detect fraud.
Rollout of EMV Technology
EMV technology, or chip cards, has forced fraudsters to seek alternative channels which has led to an increase in card not present fraud.
Increases in Call Center Fraud by Industry
- Finance
- Finance, including banks, brokerages, and card issuers have been experiencing a steadily increase fraud rate of 1/895 calls in 2006 from a rate of 1/1600 in 2015.
- Insurance
- The insurance industry is often attractive to fraudsters due to the possibility of loans being taken out against policies, resulting in a 228% increase in fraudulent calls since last year.
- Retail
- The appeal of loyalty programs, which hold a plethora of sensitive data including links to financial information and purchase power of points for hotels and airlines, has impacted the retail industry, resulting in 104% increase in fraud exposure.
- Device Insurance
- Even though fraud exposure in this industry is low, it is frequent – it has the highest rate of any industry. With fraudulent calls coming in at a rate of 1 out of every 194, this industry has experienced a 54% increase since last year.
To learn more about tackling the 113% increase in call center fraud, watch the on-demand session now.
