In the news

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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
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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
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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
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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
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Tips for protecting yourself against political texting fraud

Terrence Lee of FOX Chicago reports on the increasing amount of text scams sent out as election season gets underway. In a live interview, iconectiv’s Senior Vice President, George Cray, provides expert tips on identifying scam text messages sent from fraudsters posing as candidates or campaigns. Cray warns viewers to watch out for requests for personal data, embedded links and messages with a sense of urgency. Cray also explains that text messages from 5/6-digit numbers (short codes) are more reputable due to the vetting process candidates/campaigns undergo to obtain the code.
Oct 24, 2022
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Be Careful, Those Political Texts Could Be a Scam

Kim Baldonado of NBC 4 LA reports on political text messaging fraud. She warns that scammers pose as political candidates or campaigns and use this ruse to get money and personal information from voters. In an interview, iconectiv’s Senior Vice President, George Cray, explains how consumers can protect themselves – listing red flags to watch out for. For example, Cray warns that text messages sent from an unknown 10-digit number asking for personal information are likely from fraudsters.
Oct 21, 2022
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Telecom heroes unite! – iconectiv joining forces with a legion of fraud fighters

In this post, CFCA encourages their members to identify themselves as a trusted communications superhero. Learn how the Fraud Fighters and Identification Verifiers can protect consumers’ money and identity with the help of iconectiv’s tools TruNumber Protect, PortData Validate, TruReach Certify and TruReach Intel.
Sep 30, 2022

Press Releases

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

press release

iconectiv Chief Technology Officer Elected to SIP Forum Board of Directors

Steve Tang, Chief Technology Officer at iconectiv, has joined the Board of Directors of the SIP Forum, showcasing his expertise in trusted communications and iconectiv's dedication to advancing communication services, supporting emerging technologies and combating the misuse of communication networks.
May 16, 2024
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Cross Border Call Authentication for Fighting Fraudulent Calls Takes the Stage at CABASE Internet Day

iconectiv's Angelica Ford and Bob Grant will dive into Common Language and Cross Border Call Authentication at CABASE Internet Day, emphasizing the importance of establishing a common language in network interconnection and resolving international calling challenges to uphold trust in Argentina's communications.
May 16, 2024
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Today’s Digital Age Calls for Increased Protection of the Phone Number, says iconectiv

In the digital age, phone numbers have become essential components of identity verification. In their new market brief, iconectiv emphasizes the critical need to safeguard phone numbers, offering a digital identity portfolio that helps businesses strengthen security measures and streamline customer verification processes.
May 2, 2024
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The Path to 5G Profitability for Data Centers, Towers and Real Estate Companies

A new iconectiv white paper explores how data center operators and commercial real estate companies can use Common Language to build awareness of their fiber, interconnection and tower/site portfolios. iconectiv will showcase Common Language during Connect(X) 2024 in Atlanta on May 14.
Apr 30, 2024
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Upcoming Live Webinar Shines Light on Best Practices to Secure the Digital Identity

iconectiv’s Michael O’Brien will discuss the vital role of phone numbers in digital identity verification during the "Securing the Digital Frontier” webinar on April 23, 2024, at 10 a.m. ET. He will cover fraud prevention, regulatory compliance and ensuring trustworthy digital identity signals, highlighting the need for global collaboration.
Apr 23, 2024
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How Financial Service Companies Are Using Phone Number Data to Mitigate Fraud

iconectiv's recent case study demonstrates how financial institutions leverage numbering data to enhance security and combat fraud. By identifying recently ported phone numbers through iconectiv's data exchanges, companies can verify phone number accuracy, crucial for identification amidst rising mobile-focused fraud threats.
Apr 22, 2024
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The Common Language of Telecom Helps Rural Service Providers Close the Digital Divide

iconectiv’s case study highlights how rural service providers can use Common Language to efficiently evaluate network infrastructure, enabling faster and more affordable broadband expansion to tackle the persistent issue of limited internet access in rural areas, benefiting a wide range of service providers in rural America.
Apr 11, 2024

Speaking Engagements

john hayes

John Hayes

Senior Director, iconectiv

As Senior Director at iconectiv, John Hayes is responsible for leading the company’s global product cost analysis efforts, fixed asset management and regulatory compliance and reporting initiatives. With over more than 30 years of experience in telecommunications, Hayes has led strategic campaigns to improve network operations for global carriers centered around new investments, utilization and fixed operations. He has also advocated for effective regulatory compliance and reporting and spearheaded financial strategies to reduce carrier expenditures and increase cost savings.

Eyad

Eyad Alqadi

Regional Sales Director, EMEA, iconectiv

Eyad Alqadi is the Regional Sales Director, EMEA, at iconectiv. He is responsible for spearheading the company’s expansion in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with a focus on sales strategy, customer relations and consultation and establishing channel partner relationships.

With more than 20 years of experience in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry, Alqadi has worked successfully with organizations to leverage various technology solutions to generate value and improve operations, efficiencies, productivity and ultimately their bottom lines.

Alqadi holds a Bachelor of Engineering from New Mexico State University and a Master of Business Administration from Alliance Manchester Business School.

michael carroll

Michael Carroll

Editor, GSMA

Michael doesn’t want to admit that he has been a journalist and editor for close to 20 years covering a diverse set of subjects including shipping and shipbuilding, fixed and mobile telecoms, and motorcycling. He joins Mobile World Live as editor following several years as a freelancer, during which time he worked as the managing editor for Fierce Markets’ European wireless newsletter and editor on TelecomsEMEA.net (published by Questex Asia), and produced a range of feature articles and reports covering sectors including connected cars, IP Exchange (IPX), premium rate services and mobile ticketing for companies including Telecom Asia, mobileSquared and Netsize. Michael previously held various roles as reporter and editor with Informa Telecoms & Media, and as a reporter on Motorcycle News (MCN) – the UK’s largest and oldest weekly motorcycling newspaper.

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Driving Financial Decisions and Compliance with Fixed Asset Management

This session will explore the role of a universal Fixed Asset Management (FAM) structure in the deployment, interconnection and management of service providers’ physical and virtual assets. 
David Estes

David Estes

Principal Solutions Engineer

Dave Estes is a Principal Solutions Engineer on the iconectiv global sales team. He is responsible for providing technical subject matter expertise for iconectiv’s TruNumber platform, which provides accurate phone number data that operators need to offer seamless portability, detect and diagnose issues quickly, and help combat telephone fraud.

Dave is a wireless industry veteran and before joining iconectiv worked at T-Mobile USA and managed the Roaming Business Operations team, responsible for testing & launching roaming services, fraud, steering and inter-operator issues. Dave also worked at Syniverse Technologies where he held various management roles in Product Management, Account Management and Sales Engineering. Dave has extensive knowledge, experience and expertise in data clearing, financial clearing, fraud and roaming for telecom operators and has participated in many industry and user groups.   
Dave holds a BA in business administration/marketing from the University of Puget Sound.

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Protect Your Customers from One-Ring Scams: Trusted Tools to Fight Fraud

During the panel session, “Protect Your Customers from One-Ring Scams: Trusted Tools to Fight Fraud,” iconectiv telecom fraud expert David Estes discussed how CSPs are upgrading their existing call-blocking analytics to identify calls from high-risk and unallocated number ranges and suspicious premium-rate numbers.