Service Providers are being encouraged to report fraud that they experience on their networks via the online reporting tool which is hosted on the Action Fraud website. This guidance was first shown to members at the ITSPA Spring Workshop on 29th April and ITSPA will be encouraging participation in the coming months.
Telecoms fraud is estimated to cost the industry over $46bn per year globally and a clear problem identified is the lack of successful prosecutions in this area. This can in part be attributed to frauds being routinely unreported by the industry.
ITSPA’s Operations Group Chair David Cargill stated “Tackling telephony fraud is a main priority for ITSPA. Whilst fraud is nothing new, different techniques develop on a regular basis and ITSPA is committed to ensure our members remain fully on top of the latest threats. We are continuing to build the relevant relationships with various law enforcement groups to build the necessary communication channels and help tackle this problem collaboratively. The Action Fraud guidance tool is a simple, fast and confidential tool that both ITSPA members and the entire communications industry should be aware of to help tackle this ongoing problem.”
Action Fraud spokesperson, “Action Fraud have welcomed the dialogue with ITSPA in recent months and look forward to both organisations working together even more closely in the future The better telephony fraud is reported, the clearer law enforcement organisations can be in dedicating resource and developing successful methods for investigating these crimes.”