Purgefraud endeavors to be a leading valueadded resource for our clients by providing services, cutting edge technologies, and strategic management consulting that improves quality and cost effectiveness. At Purgefraud, we believe in building longterm relationships by combining top-notch ICT services and solutions with state of the art innovations and the goal of complete customer satisfaction. SMS BYPASS FRAUD & PURGEFRAUD s SOLUTION VERSION 11 www.purgefraud.com
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OVERVIEW Telecommunications fraud endures to be an immense problem in today s industry. The use of ubiquitous technologies have made the average life style more comfortable and expedient, but not without a price. These evolutions not only generate innovation for good, but also bring about progressively refined practices in which fraudsters can penetrate an organization. With fraud continuing to be a major issue, fraud management has developed from a guarded and responsive system concentrated on anticipation, to a more proactive, revenue assuring, and imaginative methodology. Aims have progressed from simply distinguishing fraud to building consumer satisfaction and generating new streams of revenue. Purgefraud has spent valuable years in detecting and eliminating various types of telecom fraud and understands the dynamics of this fast growing problem. This document delineates the significance
and impact of SMS Bypass fraud on telco revenues. This document also focuses on the acute countermeasures offered by Purgefraud in order to safeguard the operator s network from SMS Bypass fraud. Confidential & Proprietary Page 3 8 Short Message Service (SMS) Bypass Fraud Revenue assurance has been a grave challenge for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) coping with the most recent trends of telecom fraud. SMS is in the beginning of a longhaul decline, however, its significance to operators is still imperative, both in terms of brand quality and revenue. It is presently more fundamental than ever for operators seeking to secure their revenues, to begin allocating resources towards specific key areas including revenue assurance relating to SMS interconnect, spam analysis, and counteractive action. With this, operators will not only secure their own revenue streams but will also be able to guarantee that their clients benefit from the best client experience possible.
The use of ubiquitous technologies greatly altered the basic means of either sending a message or making a voice call. The free costs, the convenience of access, as well as the unique novelty of application converted many users from traditional SMS. MNO s have experienced large declines in SMS traffic revenues over the past five years, and are yet again confronted by new attacks on their revenues. Services like WhatsApp, and imessage, along with many others, have transitioned revenues from the use of standard SMS to OTT applications over data networks provided by those same operators. Due to this fierce competition, the MNO s business model is under threat. SMS Bypass fraud is truly posing serious trouble for telecom operators making the requirement to be competent in such a turbulent business environment indispensable. Confidential & Proprietary Page 4 8 Challenges & Impacts of SMS Bypass The manifestation of Over-the-top (OTT) communications services has badly tarnished the Person to Person (P2P) SMS market. On the other hand, due to increasing use of OTT apps, Application to Person (A2P) messaging has become
the most profitable sector for MNOs to build up new tributaries of revenue. Unfortunately, this multi-billion dollar SMS market has attracted telecom pirates with plans to encroach network operator revenues, making SMS bypass is an immense problem for network operators. According to GSMA document IR.70, there are numerous cases of SMS fraud defined such as spamming & spoofing of SMS, fake SMS or illegal use of SMSC address. Moreover, SMS bypass can cause the following glitches in the operators network: Loss in revenue due to grey route SMS traffic and SMS spoofing Capricious loads on the network due to bulk SMS Degradation in reputation of the network due to SMS spamming. However, the ever-increasing use of smartphones has provided extra leverage to the illegitimate marketers. This added commodity has provided the telecom pirates a break to utilize manifold mobile phones to generate illegitimate money from their agreement, with a single phone capable of transmitting thousands of SMS messages through these apps. Eventually, this is driving the grey market for steering messages as cheaply as possible via black aggregators around the globe. Why SMS Bypass Occurs - SMS fraud occurs when law-violators collect information and pursue clients under different reasons to execute financial operations in favor of third parties via bulk SMS. SMS bypass fraud usually occurs at the
point when wholesale revenues resulting from voice termination continue on declining; whereas the SMS termination revenues stay elevated. Confidential & Proprietary Page 5 8 Another factor causing SMS bypass fraud is that the SS7 network is vulnerable to A2P fraud schemes. When utilized solely by trusted individuals, this network used to be a sheltered territory. Today, numerous OTT players such as MNOs, SMS or Hub aggregators, etc. have the right to access the SS7 network, although telecom pirates have revealed an enhanced Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) approach to intrude into this network. SIM Farming is another illustration of how particular illicit bulk SMS service providers drive the confinements of the law (AA19). Technically, this strategy of SMS delivery is not illegitimate but evidently a break of the operator s goal of providing a consumer based tariff. Generally, the terms and conditions preclude "boundless SMS" packages being utilized for promoting, advertising, or wholesale delivery campaigns. Though, the low charges of these tariffs make it alluring for the intermediate parties to provide bulk volume SMS delivery service to SMS aggregators.
SMS Bypass Detection and Identification With SMS bypass fraud growing rapidly, the onus is on the network operator to have in place, effectual SMS bypass detection schemes with regard to conventional SS7 signaling surveillance systems. With regard to SMS bypass detection, operators need to monitor the doorways (such as International SCCP/MAP gateway (IGP) and SMS Center (SMS-C)) that are vulnerable to telecom pirates. SMS Fraud can be identified principally by: SMS volume analysis Inbound vs. Outbound SMS SMS Frequency Analysis SS7 SMS Inspection Available MSISDN or IMSI Discrepancies between protocol layers Confidential & Proprietary Page 6 8 How Purgefraud can benefit your business?
Purgefraud s all-encompassing services can identify imbalances via its end-to-end active testing operations to help identify and eliminate discrepancies in the network caused by A2P SMS traffic. We provide a fully managed and customizable solution to identify the actual and grey route SMS while sending SMS from TCG SIMs using boundless international routes. Timely and fully customized reports are then generated.
Destination Cellular Network
IP/SS7 Network SMS by Legal Route SMS by Illegal Route Destination International Gateway Bulk SMS Service Provider End User International Mobile Network Legend Illicit SMS or Hub Aggregators Confidential & Proprietary Page 7 8
Contact Details Dubai, UAE #402, Alfa Building, Knowledge Village P.O. Box: 500759 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4375 1313 Fax: +971 4420 5416 Islamabad, Pakistan #104, 1st Floor, Green Trust Tower, Blue Area Islamabad, Postal Code: 44000-Pakistan Tel: +92 51 281 3081-86 Fax: +92 51 281 3085 Chandler North America 295 North Rural Rd., Suite 263, Chandler, AZ 85226, USA Tel: +1 480 292 7150 Fax: +1 480 452 1998 Confidential & Proprietary Page 8 8