International Fraudulent Calls Policy
Carolina Digital Phone’s call termination service provides high quality voice termination to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), cloud, and mobile networks in the industry. Through our nationwide network our carriers, direct peering arrangements, and valued termination partners, Carolina Digital Phone can terminate your local, interstate, intrastate, and international calls at highly competitive rates. Under most calling plans all US 50 states domestic calls and Canada are free and included in most all calling plans. This is not the case for international calling if you have elected to have international calling enabled for your account.
INTERNATIONAL TERMINATION DEFINED
International termination is defined as anywhere outside of the United States (50 States), and Canada. While the following Area Codes are part of the NANPA (North American Numbering Plan Administration) they ARE international calls and can be very expensive if you have the international calling option turned on for your account. An updated list of +1 international dialing can be found at https://www.nationalnanpa.com/pdf/NANP_Member_Country_Maps.pdf
Area Code / Description
- 264 – Anguilla
- 268 – Antigua and Barbuda
- 284 – British Virgin Islands
- 340 – US Virgin Islands
- 345 – Cayman Islands
- 441 – Bermuda
- 473 – Grenada
- 649 – Turks and Caicos Islands
- 664 – Montserrat
- 670 – Northern Marianna Islands
- 671 – Guam
- 684 – American Samoa
- 721 – Sint Maarten
- 758 – St. Lucia
- 767 – Dominica
- 784 – St. Vincent & Grenadines
- 787 – Puerto Rico
- 809 – Dominican Republic
- 829 – Dominican Republic
- 849 – Dominican Republic
- 868 – Trinidad & Tobago
- 869 – St Kitts
- 876 – Jamaica
- 939 – Puerto Rico
About International Fraud
The Communications Fraud Control Association (CFCA) has released its 2015 Global Fraud Survey. The survey is a collection of data from communications fraud analysts worldwide. Results from the survey estimate that fraud losses for the communications industry total $38.1 billion USD each year. Fraud losses from traffic pumping, also known as International Revenue Sharing Fraud (IRSF), is the biggest threat. Over $14.5 billion USD are lost to IRSF and traffic pumping to international premium rate numbers.
Cloud calls are transmitted via high-speed internet connections, rather than over a traditional land-line phone service. These types of calls are generally traveling through many layers of cloud service providers and/or wholesalers, which can create more accessibility, least cost routing scenarios, and sometimes subsequently – fraud.
Fraud over cloud services can affect any type of organization who uses or sells cloud services. It occurs when the ‘attacker’ attempts to take advantage of certain systems and vulnerabilities within the cloud network by hacking into it and making international calls, and having no intent at paying for the accrued charges. Without proper fraud prevention monitoring and prevention strategies in place, providers or customers using cloud services may be unaware of the fraudulent activity.
- Remove any manufacturers passwords, such as with a cloud phone
- Set time limits on your network to automatically shut off international calls lasting over 60-minutes, for example
- Ensure that all IP addresses are behind a well-built and protected firewall
- Disable the ability to access a dial tone from an old phone via the voicemail system
- Be aware of the inherent risks of allowing international calling services
FRAUD POLICY AND PRECAUTIONS FOR CUSTOMERS
Carolina Digital Phone requires that its customers monitor fraudulent behavior within their respective networks, and shut down necessary numbers, IP addresses, servers or devices when necessary. Carolina Digital Phone’s customers are solely responsible for all usage charges, whether these charges are deemed legitimate or fraudulent. There are no exceptions to this policy. Nevertheless, below are a few precautions to consider that may help you safeguard against international fraud:
While this list is not all-inclusive of fraud protection within any network, they are a good start.
The best protection for preventing international fraud calling is to have your international calling disabled. This is the default for new customers.
More reading references can be found at the websites below: