In the news

article

Interview with FOX: Scammers taking over bank accounts, stealing funds

FOX Houston’s Heather Sullivan warns viewers of their bank accounts being taken over. In an interview, iconectiv’s Senior Vice President, George Cray, provides expert insight on how fraudsters are able to steal bank account information and funds. First, scammers will text victims, as if there is an issue with their bank account, prompting victims to click the link and log in. Once the victim enters their information, the fraudster will access the account, change the password and drain the funds. Cray advises viewers to look for texts from short codes, which are more trustworthy, monitor bank accounts for unexpected withdrawals, use strong passwords and an antivirus firewall and to not use WiFi at hotels or restaurants.
Dec 9, 2022
article

An Easy-to-Deploy Fraud-Control Handshake for Voice Operators is Here: When Will it Takeoff?

In this interview, Vasily Birulin discusses how the Trusted Communications Superheroes at AB Handshake are protecting the world, one call at a time. The upstart company introduced a new, low cost and easy to implement solution that can have a major industry impact when influential operators and/or regulators adopt it. AB Handshake is a perfect example of iconectiv’s Traffic Fraud Fighters.
Dec 5, 2022
article

Interview with ABC: Here's how thieves may use your phone to steal from you

ABC Austin’s Erica Proffer cautions viewers of fraudsters that are taking advantage of the holiday shopping season using text scams. In an interview, iconectiv’s Senior Vice President, George Cray, provides expert information on why scammers are heading towards texts. Cray explains that text messages are more likely to be opened and engaged with than an email scam. Some common text scams this season include information on gift cards or shipping delays. iconectiv advises viewers to be wary of texts with a sense of urgency, requests for personal information or sent from a standard 10-digit phone number. Cray explains that large companies will often use short codes. These are more trustworthy due to the vetting and monitoring process to ensure they are not being exploited or used for scams.
Nov 23, 2022
article

Interview with NBC: Tips to avoid scams this holiday season

NBC Austin’s Sam Stark warns viewers of scams to be aware of going into the holiday shopping season. In an interview, Senior Vice President at iconectiv, George Cray, recommends that viewers look to short codes, as opposed to 10-digit phone numbers, as a sign of legitimacy. Companies must undergo a vetting process to obtain a short code, and in the event the company violates the terms, they must surrender the code. Cray also advises viewers that texts with a sense of urgency or a link are likely scams.
Nov 22, 2022
article

Interview with CBS: Avoiding Holiday Text Scams

CBS Chattanooga’s Nick Hill reports on how fraudsters are taking advantage of the holiday shopping season through texting scams. iconectiv’s Senior Vice President, George Cray, shares expert information on how to protect against these scammers. CBS explains the concept of smishing: text messages that are designed to install spyware or steal other personal data. Cray advises viewers to beware of text messages with links and a sense of urgency. Hill describes the common situations these hackers will try to present, including verifying gift cards, falsely claiming delivery delays, or claiming they need more information to complete a delivery.
Nov 14, 2022
article

Interview with CBS: TECH BYTE: Don’t Fall for Political Texting Scams

CBS Chattanooga’s TECH BYTE reports on how fraudsters are taking advantage of the election season through texting scams. iconectiv’s Senior Vice President, George Cray, shares expert information on how to protect against these scammers. Cray explains how Americans lost $86 million last election cycle from texting scams, and this year could be even worse. Money isn’t the only thing scammers are after, viewers are also warned to watch out for scammers spreading misinformation.
Nov 4, 2022
article

Interview with CBS: Scammers cracking down, jumping into your phone with political texts as elections inch closer

Steve Sbraccia of CBS Raleigh reports on how scammers are taking advantage of the election season to steal personal information. iconectiv’s Senior Vice President, George Cray, shares expert information on how to protect against these scammers. Cray advises viewers to be wary of texts with a sense of urgency and sent from 10-digit numbers. Real candidates and campaigns can undergo a vetting process to obtain a 5/6-digit number (a short code), making these numbers more trustworthy for voters.
Oct 28, 2022

Press Releases

Media Contact:
Sharon Oddy
Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications
+1 732 699-5130
soddy@iconectiv.com

press release

Experts Discuss Verifying Voice Calls And Boosting Consumer Confidence In Communications

In this era, when more than 70% of people have stopped answering voice calls, legitimate businesses need, want and deserve a way to have consumers know that a call is from a trusted calling party. Consumers want that, too. In a recent Network Media Group panel, experts from CTIA, iconectiv and T-Mobile explain how the Secure Telephone Identity Governance Authority (STI-GA) policy change is helping simplify the verification of voice calls—including toll-free numbers—for all legitimate callers.
Nov 16, 2021
press release

How Phone Companies Can Utilize Numbering Intelligence to Improve Customer Satisfaction and Protect Revenue

Local number portability gives consumers the choice and convenience of keeping their wireline or wireless telephone number when switching from one service provider to another. During this USTelecom Webinar, iconectiv will explain the concept of numbering intelligence—a data routing and rating framework that simply and seamlessly determines which phone numbers belong to which phone companies.
Nov 9, 2021
press release

Registered Caller Offers Companies Expanded Options to Take Advantage of STIR/SHAKEN for Verifying Caller Information

Today, the Secure Telephone Identity Governance Authority (STI-GA) announced a new era of STIR/SHAKEN functionality, expanding caller ID authentication reach with the use of delegate certificates and by allowing Resp Orgs to directly join the SHAKEN ecosystem. Registered Caller—the collaborative industry initiative facilitated by CTIA and iconectiv—will operationalize this process by providing a trusted, industry-backed, centralized telephone number registry that service providers and certification authorities can use to verify phone number information.
Oct 20, 2021
press release

With Communications-Related Fraud on the Rise, Analyst Report Examines Identity Theft and Consumer Protection in the US

Despite the numerous advantages and benefits that networks and digital devices bring, they inadvertently open up new avenues for fraud. A special report from Technology Research Institute entitled, “The 2021 State of Communications-Related Fraud, Identity Theft & Consumer Protection in the USA,” discusses the multi-layered blanket of security that provides timely—often real-time—protection from new, digital-enabled fraud threats, identity theft and account takeovers.
Oct 5, 2021
press release

The Challenges and Opportunities of SHAKEN Going Global

Translation of telecommunication services to foreign lands may take some time to progress and evolve into a maintained functional system. This is the case with SHAKEN as its state-of-the-art blocking of traffic from voice service providers not listed in the Robocall Mitigation Database may lead to numbers from different countries to be seen as robocalls. In this panel at the STIR/SHAKEN Summit, experts from ATIS, Fierce Wireless, iconectiv, Microsoft and Twilio discussed what service providers must do to prepare for the  FCC’s September 28 deadline.
Sep 21, 2021
press release

How to Detect and Protect Against One-Ring “Wangiri” Fraud

Creating an illegal $1.82 billion industry, “Wangiri” fraud, also known as one-ring scam, targets unassuming victims by intentionally hanging up after one ring in the hope people call back—charging them at a premium rate. As part of Conecta Latam’s Telco Transformation Digital Summit and Virtual Expo, iconectiv’s Juan Carlos Ortiz, Principal for Corporate Business Development, will explore how iconectiv’s TruNumber Protect helps enable telephone companies enhance their call-blocking analytics to identify and prevent illegitimate calls before they reach customers.
Sep 17, 2021
press release

A Successful Pilot: iconectiv, CTIA, Metaswitch and Verizon Address the Benefits of a Centralized Industry Registry for Verifying Voice Calls

Lack of caller verification is one of the largest problems that is causing individuals to not answer their phone. If they do not see who is calling them then they are less likely to pick up at all. With calls answered rates reaching the lowest it has ever been in a long time, it is to the upmost importance that proper authentication gets back into phone calls. Executives from CTIA, iconectiv, Metaswitch and Verizon covered a recent trial run of Registered Caller™ at the 2021 STIR/SHAKEN Summit and conversed about what it will offer to fix the declining answered rates.
Sep 8, 2021