How big of a problem is VoIP fraud

VoIP fraud is a significant and growing problem in the telecommunications industry. Because fraudsters often attack during weekends, fraud events often go undetected for many hours.

A single fraud event can easily cost a company between three and fifty thousand dollars. In many cases, this number can be even larger.

• A 2009 attack on an Australian company’s VoIP PBX resulted in 11,000 international calls in just 46 hours, leaving the SIP provider with a bill in excess of $120,000.
• A 2011 weekend episode in South Africa resulted in a bill of over $12,000 and another in the US cost victims more than $1.4 million.

Experts have trouble estimating an aggregated global yearly loss, because calculations are often based on subjective and individual standards. However, most experts agree that total loss is somewhere between 3 and 10 percent of income. This translates to a total global losses of somewhere between 30 and 50 billion dollars per year.The CFCA’s 2011 report put the number at $40.1 billion dollars lost.

This is a problem that is only increasing. Some say that phone fraud is growing at a rate of 29% per year. As the popularity of VoIP continues to grow, the problem of VoIP fraud will become an increasing threat to the industry.

Learn more about how TransNexus can help prevent VoIP fraud.