Nathalie Newman
Published on: December 4, 2024
Impersonation fraud, also known as identity fraud, occurs when someone pretends to be another person or entity to deceive victims and gain unauthorised benefits. These benefits often include financial gain, access to sensitive information, or other valuable services.
Recently the BBC highlighted the widespread nature of this threat during its Scam Awareness Campaign, publishing several articles that shed light on the experiences of scam victims. These stories revealed the personal and financial toll of impersonation fraud and demonstrated how advanced tools – like those offered by us – could potentially prevent such crimes.
Here are some of the scams mentioned that our tools could have spotted, and prevented from happening:
One BBC article detailed how scammers exploit Voice ID software, which many banks use for online account access verification. In the experiment, a reporter successfully bypassed her own Voice ID system multiple times using an AI-generated clone.
This highlights a critical vulnerability, but scammers attempting to use AI to mimic a customer’s voice will most likely not have access to the actual customer’s mobile device.
Our Silent Network Authentication solution – Authenticate – works in tandem with voice ID to reduce fraud. By silently verifying whether the device and mobile number associated with the account match, banks can flag and prevent fraudulent attempts by scammers who might have access to trained AI voice software. Authenticate is often paired with our SIM-Swap checks on a backup OTP, allowing banks to investigate any suspicious activity surrounding each level of their authentication procedure.
Another scam reported by the BBC involved a woman who was pressured over the phone into withdrawing £4,000 by saying they were a legitimate business, and something had gone wrong which she needed to fix. They remained on the call for over an hour, even as she entered the bank and withdrew the cash.
This could have been prevented with our Scam Signal checks. Our solution analyses situational behaviour associated with the device and mobile number, identifying red flags that coincide with in-person, or digital bank withdrawals/transfers. If an alert had been triggered, the bank could have paused the transaction for further investigation, potentially saving the victim from financial loss.
One of the most shocking cases involved a man whose mobile network was compromised while he was on holiday. Scammers contacted his provider, posing as him, and obtained a replacement SIM card sent to a London address. Using the new SIM, they accessed his accounts and stole over £50,000.
Our SIM card takeover protection could have flagged this. By identifying anomalies such as a SIM-swap or a change in device behaviour, the bank could have flagged the transaction as high-risk and halted it before releasing funds.
Impersonation fraud is an escalating global issue, with costs estimated in the billions annually. Technological improvements that allow scammers to carry out increasingly sophisticated schemes exacerbate the problem.
In the UK alone, financial fraud involving impersonation rose by more than 44% in recent years, with losses exceeding £137 million in 2022, according to UK Finance.
Statistics cited at a recent Telecommunications UK Fraud Forum (TUFF) event provided crucial insights:
Number intelligence and mobile identity solutions play a critical role in combating impersonation fraud. By leveraging the unique attributes of mobile numbers, devices, and associated data points, companies can enhance their Know Your Customer (KYC) processes.
Tools like ours empower businesses to stay ahead of scammers, protecting customers and safeguarding financial systems from new threats. In a world where fraud tactics are becoming more sophisticated, proactive measures like these are no longer optional – they’re essential.
Last updated on December 4, 2024
Verify offers a vast range of data intelligence around a customer’s mobile number. It helps you confirm a customer’s identity to assess the authenticity of a mobile number and identify any suspicious activity
Check out Verify"Phone number verification plays a critical role in helping to detect and prevent online fraud. TMT ID’s TeleShield product provides easy access to global mobile data, enabling us to enhance the actionable results of our MaxMind minFraud® services."
"BTS (Business Telecommunications Services) is successfully using TMT’s Velocity and Live services to check the status of mobile numbers. This way we make sure we optimize the performance of the service offered to our customers and ensure the quality of terminating traffic to all countries.”
"Working with TMT’s TeleShield service has expanded our ability to detect fraud and minimise the risk to our business. TeleShield brings peace of mind and the opportunity to stop fraud before it affects our customers’ bottom line or the service."
"LATRO relies on TMT’s TeleShield to provide the most up to date and reliable numbering qualification information within our fraud reporting tools, enabling us to protect our customer’s revenues and empowering them to defend themselves against fraudulent numbers."
"TMT is a valued partner that enables us to manage our routing costs effectively. They proactively and continuously expand their operator and country coverage while delivering exceptional customer service. We can always count on them to achieve high-quality results and look forward to our continued collaboration."
"TMT provides us with the most comprehensive numbering intelligence data through their fast and reliable Velocity and Live services. TMT is a trusted partner for us, their products ensure that we continue to optimise the best performance and service to our customers."
"TeleShield from TMT gives 42com the power to detect and target telephony fraud scams internationally, thereby protecting our company from the financial and customer experience impacts of telecommunications fraud."
"It has been a pleasure to work with the team at TMT. They have become an essential provider of accurate numbering data information and Number Portability services globally."
"Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier uses TMT ID as one of their key suppliers for Mobile Number Portability Data services. Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier uses TMT ID’s Velocity MNP solution. This is an ultra-fast query service that optimises the routing of international voice calls and A2P messaging."
We provide the most comprehensive device, network and mobile numbering data available
Contact us > Chat to an expert >
