There are two contributing factors, according to Hiya CEO and founder Alex Algard, who spoke during a panel discussion at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 in Barcelona. The session was titled Bring Trust Back to the Voice Call.
“The cost of placing calls keeps on declining, so now the cost to place a call is near zero,” said Algard. “Also, the tools for placing calls in major spam campaigns are more available.”
As an example, Algard pointed out the number of booths at MWC selling call center hardware and software.
“You could literally charge your credit card and you could place a million calls tomorrow if you wanted to,” he said.
And what could stop all those spam calls? Algard used email as an analogy.
“You could stop all email spam by just charging a penny for every email sent — it would all go away,” he said.
The “fraud ballon”
Algard used another analogy to describe the situation for entities like Hiya that work to fight against phone spam and fraud.
“I’ve been in cybersecurity for quite some time, and people refer to the ‘fraud balloon.’ If you tighten security on one end — squeeze the balloon — it will just move elsewhere,” he said.
Algard mentioned that other communication channels, such as email and messaging, have fraud protections built in, but the telecommunication network is completely insecure.
“That’s why it’s such a target,” he said.
Fighting back against spam
Carriers don’t have to put up with the proliferation of spam and fraud on their networks. The best way to stop spam is by using a robust call protection system like Hiya Protect. Hiya Protect uses Adaptive AI, the industry’s only self-learning spam protection system that adjusts to the latest threats. Unlike other solutions, it uses a multi-layer approach to analyze every aspect of a phone call, from the phone number to the call recipient, the enterprise making the call, and the characteristics of the call itself. For more information about Hiya Protect, visit our website, or send us a message.
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