2016: Maybe Everything Wasn’t Completely Terrible
Let’s face it: 2016 has been pretty rough year. Things didn’t go all that well for humans in the last 12 months, and computers didn’t make out much better. Lots of things broke, and it seemed like whatever didn’t break was compromised, stolen, or lost. But not everything was terrible. There were some encouraging developments […]
Call Centers a Soft Target for Fraudsters
The fraud schemes that consumers and businesses face every day are the end result of a lot of research, work, and planning on the part of the criminals who perpetrate them. There are a lot of moving pieces in the background that victims never see, and often the schemes involve many intermediate steps before a […]
Financial Fraud Trending in the Wrong Direction
When discussing financial fraud, people often talk about it as one overarching problem. But the reality is that in today’s environment, fraud comprises many separate, distinct components, each with its own techniques, complexities, and challenges for organizations trying to defend against them. Customers interact with their financial institutions in a variety of ways: in-person, online, […]
Phone Fraud Groups Now Offering Phone Fraud Protection Service
Fraudsters are always looking for new ways to empty the wallets of their victims, and scammers in the U.K. recently have hit on a novel phone fraud technique that preys on people’s fear of other phone fraud scams. The new tactic involves scammers calling up potential victims and offering them a subscription service that will […]
Most Commercial Robotexts Illegal, FCC Warns
The FCC is warning consumers, as well as marketers, that robotexts sent by autodialers to mobile phones are illegal and the commission says it will be cracking down on the practice. Robotexts are the younger cousin of the robocalls that have been plaguing consumers and businesses for a long time. Whereas robocalls typically are made […]
FCC, Canadian Authorities to Cooperate on Robocall Enforcement
Federal authorities in the United States and Canada have signed an agreement that will allow them to share information on robocalls and caller ID spoofing and cooperate on investigations and enforcement actions. The new memorandum of understanding between the FCC and the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission will allow the two agencies to share a wide […]
U.S. Indicts 61 in International Phone Fraud Operation
Three weeks after authorities in India disrupted a major phone fraud ring in Mumbai, the Department of Justice has indicted 61 people in relation to the scam, which officials say generated as much as $150,000 per day. The indictments are the result of investigations involving U.S. and Indian authorities and the phone fraud scheme affected tens […]
Critics Say Robocall Strike Force Plan Falls Short
With the release of its initial report to the FCC yesterday, the Robocall Strike Force laid out plans to implement technical and policy solutions to address the robocall problem, including a Do Not Originate List and more sophisticated traceback techniques. But consumer advocates say that these ideas, while good, aren’t enough to address the problem […]
Carriers Plan to Implement Do Not Originate List to Defeat Robocalls
An industry-led strike force is preparing to take away one of the most valuable pieces of technology used by phone scammers: caller ID spoofing. The Robocall Strike Force, convened by the FCC and comprising wired and wireline telecom companies, has been working since August on a handful of new technologies, standards, and other techniques to […]