Kaunas, Lithuania – iDenfy, a company providing identity verification and fraud detection services, launches an enhanced version of phone verification.

Over the years, institutions and governments worldwide recognised the importance of Know Your Customer (KYC) initiatives to fight fraud effectively. Certain factors can help evaluate the risk associated with each client and take the necessary actions outlined in the Customer Due Diligence (CDD) guidelines.

While verifying the customer’s Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is pretty straightforward according to iDenfy, verifying the phone number is a bit trickier.

“Many people value their privacy above all and will resort to certain methods to bypass the process. Using a made-up number, a “burner phone,” or making use of temporary phone numbers issued by specific websites are among the most popular” Domantas Ciulde, CEO of iDenfy, reflects on the issue.

According to the company, fraudsters know and love these methods. They will never use their actual phone number and will abuse every security gap they can and there are many more gaps today due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Israel Aloni, cyber Security director at KPMG, put it, “Fraudsters never waste a good crisis.”

Not only is phone number a crucial part of KYC, but many industries also rely on it to communicate with their customers about their newest products, policy changes, etc. If the number is not valid, that’s time and resources wasted, in addition to crucial information not making its way to the client.

iDenfy’s phone verification solution tackles these issues by thoroughly analysing the data provided by the customer. With a quick API call, iDenfy will deliver crucial information to help assess the risk associated with the phone number and recommend actions. The data will include customer location, roaming country, current network, availability, validity, phone contract details. According to the company, it’s a great way to mitigate the risk of fraud especially now that digital services and remote operations are the new norms.

Companies can use iDenfy’s phone verification product to double-check their customers by sending them a one-time password or “text to speech” message. It can be used both as an additional fraud prevention tool and as part of the secure onboarding process.

“Phone verification is not new in the market. Many industries use the system to confirm the numbers of their clients and establish a medium for communication. However, our product stands out in its ability to thoroughly analyse the phone number provided and assess the risk associated with it. It’s a flexible tool, as companies can decide for themselves what to do with the information they’ll receive. As face-to-face interactions are much rarer today than in the pre-COVID-19 times, businesses should utilise every tool available to ensure security and transparency,” says Domantas Ciulde.

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