Modem dialing, rogue employees and the illicit use of premium-rate numbers are costing Irish businesses more than €75m a year, claims telecoms firm Energis.
Speaking with siliconrepublic.com, Energis Ireland managing director Conal Henry explained: “It is a lot more widespread than you think. Often businesses aren’t aware they are being defrauded until they receive their monthly bill. We are addressing the issue as opposed to pretending the issue doesn’t exist.”
Henry said without adequate fraud protection, companies can be exposed to large losses.
The company has deployed a service in the Irish market that has already saved Energis’ UK customers more than €15m.
The service uses what Energis claims is one of the most advanced fraud management systems in the world, giving the company the ability to sift through millions of calls a day to discover fraud.
In May 2005 Energis helped customers in the UK prevent €2.3m in suspected fraud. Each month Energis issues more than 6,000 alarms to customers and the company’s security experts handle 30-70 incidents a month.
The company said it is researching new fraud management technologies to protect against fraud in the realms of telecoms such as voice over internet protocol.
By John Kennedy
