VoIP Telecom Billing Fraud shakes telecom industry

The federal government on June 8 arrested Edwin Andrew Pena, 23, owner of Fortes Telecom Inc. and Miami Tech & Consulting Inc., for hacking into other VoIP providers' networks, routing his own customers' calls onto those platforms, then billing those companies and pocketing the proceeds, according to a recent story in New Telephony Magazine. He reaped more than $1 million.

The security breech highlights an ever prevalent issue on the minds of vendors and corporations alike – how to protect from fraudulent toll charges and telecom billing issues. A call accounting system that can easily track any fraudulent toll charges can provide the needed assurance for the security conscious corporation.

The importance of security on any network, and the ability to track the call accounting to get at the source of a call, and detecting internal or external toll fraud has escalated in priority for many CEOs in today's heightened security-conscious climate and some sources cite loss estimates as high as $63 billion, although the actual dollar amount is heavily debated, but everyone agrees that the problem can't be taken lightly. Toll Fraud alone costs the American economy $5 billion annually.

Implementing a call accounting system in addition to other recommended security precautions by both vendors and corporations, such as firewalls, SIP enablement, and other security technologies, can greatly minimize the risk of a security breech. Additionally, simply being diligent and paying close attention to fraudulent charges as they appear on telecom bills and monitoring call detail records can aid in the recovery of any losses.

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Author, Karen Ritz, VP Business Development for TelSoft Solutions, writes on the business benefits of call accounting and call detail record technology. More information can be found at http://www.telsoft-solutions.com.