Toll fraud is a type of telecommunications fraud where unauthorised individuals exploit vulnerabilities in phone systems to make fraudulent calls at the expense of the system owner. This form of organised crime can target analog, digital, or IP-based telephony systems. Fraudsters employ advanced software to crack passwords, bypass firewalls, and hack into phone systems.

How is toll fraud performed?

Once unauthorised access is gained, the perpetrators make illegal calls to destinations worldwide, passing off the stolen call time as legitimate traffic.

Toll fraud often involves a link to organised criminal groups posing as legitimate businesses. In many cases, businesses may remain unaware of the fraudulent activity until they receive unexpectedly high telephone bills, which results in significant financial losses for the affected business.

To mitigate the risk of toll fraud, businesses can implement toll fraud prevention technologies to help detect and prevent unauthorised access reducing the risk of toll fraud.