As telecommunication fraud continues to grow exponentially, with reported losses in 2022 of $530 million in Canada ^[1] and nearly $40 billion in the United States^[2], it's clear that spam affects pretty much everyone with a phone. After the number of robocalls to US consumers totaled 50.3 billion in 2022 alone^[3], much has been said about the best ways for the average consumer to protect themselves. This article will focus specifically on how spam and robocalls impact businesses and the best ways for organizations to protect themselves from their voice network being infiltrated.

How Spam Affects Businesses

Businesses are faced with many of the same types of spam calls that everyday consumers are, as well as some that specifically target organizations. Beyond the various forms of imposter scams out there, spammers often target businesses making false threats about removing their listings, demanding proof of ownership of the company, or soliciting private information that they can use to access and tamper with company accounts. If any of these scams are successful, the victimized organization will have serious consequences to deal with.

Given that these business scam attempts are inevitable, the best approach is to stay informed and prepared. Simply put, the best defense for robocalls are robocall mitigation programs.

What are Robocall Mitigation Programs?

Robocall mitigation refers to processes that make illegal robocalls less severe, dangerous, and damaging. A good robocall mitigation program will offer a great deal of protection to your voice network. Here are some benefits it provides:

• Fewer spam calls
• Increased trust in your voice network
• More productivity and fewer distractions

To prevent illegal robocalls, every voice service provider (VSP) in the US is required by the FCC to have a robocall mitigation plan, and to register into the Robocall Mitigation Database. These types of programs can take many forms, but they typically contain some combination of the following elements:

Blocklists

Blocklists are comprised of all the numbers that have been caught and established to be associated with spammers. Calls to and from these numbers become automatically blocked, stopping spammers before they even get a chance to make contact with potential victims. While blocklists are effective for blocking individual numbers, they do have limitations since spammers are able to acquire new numbers fairly easily.

Caller ID Reputation

Caller ID reputation analyzes the safety of any given phone number that's calling you. Whois by SIPSTACK uses a 5 star rating system, based on both AI and community feedback, so it's easy to tell whether or not you should even bother answering calls from certain callers. The more feedback a number has, the more accurate the rating will be.

Dynamic Traffic Analysis

Dynamic traffic analysis detects patterns in activity associated with a given number. For instance, high call rates and low call durations are good indications that the number may belong to a scammer and should be avoided.

Call Screening

The purpose of call screening is for users to know not only who is calling them, but also why. Using verbal CAPTCHAs, a caller must answer these very questions via text in order for their call to go through. This allows the recipient of the call to determine whether or not they want to answer. Of course, robocallers depend on making mass amounts of calls as quickly and efficiently as possible, so this process presents major roadblocks for them, and is therefore a very good tool of defense.

How SIPSTACK Fights Fraud

Using the latest technology and machine learning, SIPSTACK's systems authenticate all activity in real time against variables that affect your security. When a carrier implements SIPSTACK's Smart CNAM, they are able to customize a threshold for calls to pass through, based on their specific needs. At SIPSTACK we take an active role in ensuring we are building a secure and connected tomorrow. Contact us today to learn how you can protect yourself from spam.

References