As the use of VoIP becomes widespread throughout organizations, the communication networks are becoming a frequent target for criminals. Both enterprises and VoIP service providers can fall victim to various fraudulent activities resulting in loss of revenue, sky high bills, loss of reputation and even the risk of lawsuits. Since VoIP is so versatile, many companies use it to facilitate voice, video and messaging services between offices and employees. However the integration of all the services into one network opens up many doors through which hackers can gain access and seize control of the system.
The most widely known VoIP scam is toll fraud. This type of scam is usually accomplished by hackers who gain their way into corporate IP-PBXs. Once they have control over the system, they are able to make long distance calls which are fraudulently billed to the service provider. At the other end, the hackers themselves sell long-distance minutes to unsuspecting subscribers and then use the hacked PBXs to complete the calls. These type of attacks usually occur on the weekend and the organization is often left footing the bill. In some cases, larger companies may refuse to pay fraudulent charges forcing the VoIP provider to absorb the charges.
But this is not the only way in which a corporate VoIP network can be breached and misused. VoIP vendors can often fall victims to subscription fraud. A hacker will typically sign up for and use services using an assumed or stolen identity with fake details. Once the bill is generated, there is no one to collect it from. Sometimes criminals will pose as genuine customers for a short while before using the VoIP network for revenue-generating schemes which can seriously wreck the provider’s bottom line.
Fraudsters also utilize premium rate numbers to make money at the expense of enterprises. Premium calls are those which are charged at a higher rate than regular calls and a portion of the charge is paid to the business providing the service. Criminals either partner with an existing premium rate service or set up their own and then generate traffic to earn profits. Although there are legal ways to generate traffic to such numbers, fraudsters generally hack into vulnerable PBX boxes to make the calls.
Apart from the above scenarios, there are other scams such as revenue share fraud, call transfer fraud and bypass fraud among many others. Since such schemes are usually perpetrated by exploiting security vulnerabilities in VoIP deployments, enterprises and service providers urgently need to secure their networks if they want to avoid further loss of income.
