Telecoms Fraud

When you think of fraud, it’s probably IT fraud that jumps to mind, but did you know that it’s also possible to be a victim of telecoms fraud too?? Unfortunately it is the case and there are two mains ways it can happen.

The first way is when criminals get hold of your companies details – which is widely accessible on Companies House, for example – and set up premium rate telephone numbers in your name. They end up racking up expensive call charges and if you’ve been unlucky enough to have had your bank details compromised, you’re left footing the bill.

Telecoms providers such as ourselves remain vigilant to this type of fraud and we would never set up premium rate lines for a client unless we were 100% certain the request was genuine. Here at Hubtel IT, our IT support company Birmingham puts procedures in place to protect us and our clients, such as client accounts that are password restricted. Only authorised employees, trusted with the account password, are able to make account changes.

The second way telecoms fraud can be committed is when a criminal hacks into your telephone system and makes calls on your lines. Calls could be to premium rate numbers or international destinations that come with a pricey tariff.  Unfortunately, the line owner is ultimately responsible for paying these charges but again, there are procedures we can put in place to make it difficult for this type of fraud to happen. We can put a barring service on certain call destinations, such as overseas calls, and we can also monitor your account for unusual call activity putting an immediate block on the account until further investigation.

It’s worth spending a minute thinking about the security of your telecoms as prevention is always better than cure. My advise is always to presume you will be a victim at some point and to work your way back from there. If you’d like any further information, then please reach out to us, we would love to hear from you.