BICS, a global wholesale carrier for voice, mobile data and capacity services, hasannounced the launch of its Voice Roaming Firewall solution, which automatically blocks incidents of voice fraud in roaming for its customers.
The telecoms sector is behind the curve when it comes to managing and combatting fraud in roaming, such as IRSF (International Revenue Share Fraud). This is due in part to the inherent nature of roaming, which introduces delays in fraud detection ranging anywhere between a few hours and a few days. As a result, roaming has emerged as the biggest exploit within the industry, contributing significantly to the total US$38.1bn worth of fraud losses estimated by the Communications Fraud Control Association (CFCA).
As an innovative roaming fraud prevention service for mobile operators, the voice roaming firewall sits in line with BICS’ roaming platform and provides customers with greater visibility and control on outbound roaming voice traffic. It also enables operators to proactively protect their bottom line by reducing overall instances of fraud.
This around the clock, automated and fully managed service is helping BICS’ roaming service customers block outbound roamer fraudulent voice call attempts in real time. This is achieved by harnessing the strategic position of BICS as a hub of roaming signalling traffic by automatically monitoring the subscriber’s voice call attempts. The service taps into BICS’ comprehensive and uniquely crowdsourced database, covering more than 50 million fraudulent numbers around the world.
“As more and more cases of fraud are reported by service providers, it is clear the industry is in need of a more proactive and reliable solution to help detect, prevent and eventually eliminate fraud,” said Katia Gonzalez, the head of Fraud Prevention Operations & Services at BICS. “Our longstanding credentials in this space – 15 years of experience, carrying approximately 30 billion minutes per year from more than 1,000 customers – has enabled us to create a solution that will help mobile operators to combat fraud head on. By sharing knowledge and collaborating with our partners, our fraud intelligence database has already helped block more than 550 million minutes of fraudulent traffic on our carrier platform and we anticipate our new Voice Roaming Firewall solution will achieve so much more for our customers.”
