In the age of COVID 19, businesses have become more reliant on telecommunications services as their employees and other processes operate remotely. Traffic volumes to call centers have risen. Staff sizes have shrunk. Consumers face new threats and new fears. All of these factors present multiple opportunities for fraudsters. And the fraudsters have given an appropriate response, engaging in '
COVID 19 fraud'.
Recently, the Global Leaders Forum (
GLF) and Delta Partners Group surveyed executives from leading operators around the globe about the effects of
COVID 19 on their operations. The results reveal an increased level of fraud (which some may refer to as
COVID 19 fraud).
They found the following:
In general, fraudsters' tactics have evolved and become more sophisticated over the years as the volume of telecommunications traffic steadily increases.
Also, the number of fraud attacks on certain traffic flows, such as international voice, has noticeably increased in volume due to COVID-19.
In short:
As
traffic volumes rise, the number of fraud attacks
also rises and the COVID-19 pandemic has
exacerbated this effect.
It's also important to note that as people face economic hardship and lose jobs or their income drops, crime rates often rise, in general. It could be argued that the economic hardships brought on by COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on increased levels of fraud of all kinds, including in the telecom industry.
Let's take a look at all of this, in detail.