Phone fraud - the cost of doing nothing

Convergence of voice, video and data onto a single network presents great opportunities for the Enterprise. These opportunities also bring ever changing challenges for the IT department – especially as voice becomes another application on the converged network.

The threat of telephony fraud has become significantly more sophisticated. Recent years have seen a fourfold increase in fraudulent activity, with the International Forum of Irregular Network Access estimating that the total cost of telephony fraud worldwide has grown to $80 billion.

This growth can partially be explained by the fact that traditional PBX-based systems have become increasingly targeted by employees or contractors using legitimate features on a switch for illegitimate purposes. Organized crime gangs are also targeting PBXs and using voice communications for criminal activities.

Organizations must therefore remain vigilant to the fraudulent telephony practices that target both traditional PBX and IP based systems, or they will continue to count the costs.