Voice/Toll Fraud: Protecting Against Reputational Harm

Author: Robin Gareiss, CEO and Principal Analyst

Even as the use of virtual meeting services has proliferated over the last two years, the good-old phone call is still very much part of everyday business, as borne out in findings from Metrigy’s Unified Communications Management and Endpoints: 2021-22 research study of 395 global organizations. In this fall 2021 study, half of participating organizations reported that they expect an average 32.7% increase in phone system utilization by the end of 2022.

An increase in phone system usage is, no doubt, music to a fraudster’s ears. When not properly locked down, a phone system becomes a hacker’s playground. Over the course of a night, for example, a hacker who gains access to a on-premises or cloud PBX could initiate thousands of international calls on high-priced routes. Via this scheme, formally known as International Revenue Sharing Fraud, they earn a per-call commission while sticking the hacked business with the telecom bill. And that’s just one example of how a hacker may put a phone system or voice calls to fraudulent use.

Table of Contents

• Voice/Toll Fraud Prevention: Attention Lacking
• Addressing the Voice/Toll Fraud Challenge
• Brand Reputation Impact
• Conclusion