MACH’s service has been so successful for Telefónica España because it enables incidences of fraud to be detected rapidly, so limiting the fraudsters’ opportunity to complete the fraud attempt and serving as a serious fraud deterrent. Uniquely, the service combines subscriber intelligence from multiple networks, so that the characteristics of fraud identified on one network can be used to give early warning of fraud on another, a process which individual operators cannot undertake on their own.
Fraud in the telecoms space has historically proven to be something of an intractable problem. In 2010, the US based Communications Fraud Control Association (www.cfca.org) indicated that fraud costs telecom network operators up to €44 billion annually. This is estimated to be between two per cent and three per cent of total revenues. MACH helps operators such as Telefónica España to reduce their exposure to fraud through advanced modelling techniques that profile subscribers and compare their patterns of behaviour to that of fraudulent behaviour patterns. This means that fraud detection is based on many behavioural attributes, not just on simple threshold alarms, which results in reduced numbers of false alarms and allows operators to recognise and shut down fraud rapidly.
According to Telefónica España, MACH has provided it with an effective service to help towards its wider fraud reduction efforts. The company has taken away much of the burden of collecting and analysing NRTRDE records, freeing up internal resources at the operator. Telefónica España looks forward to continuing to work together with MACH to reduce fraud incidences even further.
Joseph George, Director Product Management, Fraud and Revenue Assurance MACH, commented: “MACH is currently working hard to ensure we have the most comprehensive solutions on the market to help operators combat fraud both at home and abroad – as our recent acquisition of fraud specialist Optel Informatik (now MACH Solutions GmbH) demonstrates. The fact that Telefónica España has renewed its commitment to our Fraud Protection Service shows how highly our propositions are esteemed by major global operators. We look forward to continuing to help Telefónica España drive down fraud across its operations.”
MACH’s Fraud Protection Service is highly flexible and minimises the threat from international roaming fraud, without burdening operators with the administration and analysis overheads that are usually associated with fraud management. Many different types of data can be processed in near real-time, enabling MACH to identify fraud rapidly and help its customers close down fraud as quickly as possible, thereby mitigating any potential financial damage. MACH notifies customers of fraud risks at any time of day or night, 365 days a year.