Azure Solutions, the telecoms revenue-assurance company, today warned of the increased risk of fraud over the Christmas period in particular to consumers who buy new mobile handsets and sign up to new service contracts. Telecoms fraud is currently an annual $37.9 billion worldwide problem and Azure has outlined some of the potential threats facing both consumers and mobile operators during the festive season and identified some preventative measures that can help to reduce the problem.

Consumers can start to help protect themselves against fraud by doing the following:

· Set up a pin code on your phone to easily prevent use by other people.

· Consumers should limit service availability, such as international roaming, to only those areas that they use on a regular basis.

· If a phone is lost or stolen, report it immediately – unlike credit cards, consumers are liable for any calls made until the phone is reported lost.

· Treat your phone like you would your computer. Don’t ever respond to unsolicited text and e-mail messages, as this can quickly lead to premium-rate subscription fraud, or you could be signed up to unwanted services or fall victim to phishing scams.

· Apply the same common sense you would use with a traditional telemarketer. Never give personal details to unsolicited callers, as this could lead to identity fraud.

· Don’t be a show off with your new holiday gift! There is no need to advertise you have the latest mobile phone, only to become the target of a phone thief. Treat your mobile phone just as you would your wallet – or you might find it missing in a flash!

As for mobile-network operators, the following advice can help them combat telecoms fraudsters:

· Monitor dealer activations closely to identify potential dealer fraud.

· Monitor premium-rate services closely as fraudulent activity can be hidden in the Christmas volumes of traffic.

· Monitor and limit service availability rather than include them as standard on some packages, particularly over the Christmas period.

· Monitor SMS text messages for spam which can lead to premium-rate service fraud.

· Remind retail and customer-service staff to be extra vigilant as fraudsters may try and take advantage of the Christmas rush to perpetrate card and subscription fraud and service alterations from stolen phones.

Jack Wraith, chief executive of TUFF (Telecommunications UK Fraud Forum), said: “Increased efforts by fraudsters during the Christmas period is well known and an ongoing problem which can have significant impact on customers who become victims of such activity. It is therefore important that as many measures as possible are put into place in order to mitigate such fraud and TUFF welcomes this timely advice by Azure Solutions”.

John Cronin, president and CEO of Azure Solutions, said: “Christmas does provide many fraudsters with an opportunity to exploit telecoms networks due to the proliferation of new handsets and service offers. However, if both mobile operators and consumers work together and follow some basic rules, they can start to ensure that opportunities are reduced, so the fraudsters don’t have a merry Christmas!”

Global operator survey highlights increasing magnitude of losses and the need for better revenue assurance

Azure Solutions, the global revenue-assurance company, today revealed that global telecoms operators are losing an estimated 11.6 per cent of turnover ($170 billion) through fraud and other types of revenue leakage in 2005, compared to 10.7 per cent in 2004. This is one of the main findings of research Azure has conducted in conjunction with telecoms analysts, Analysys, into global telecoms revenue losses.

The ‘Operator Attitudes to Revenue Assurance 2005’ report surveyed over 100 operators from different regions of the world to investigate levels of revenue loss. The major sources of revenue loss continue to be fraud, credit management, least-cost-routing errors, interconnect/partner-payment errors, and poor processes and systems. The report reveals that fraudulent activity, in particular, has risen since last year and is now the single largest area of revenue leakage (2.7 per cent).

Other findings reveal that fixed-line operators continue to lose less than their mobile counterparts and once again there were strong regional differences. Operators in North America, Central and Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, in particular, suffered from more revenue leakage than the global average. However, the report did reveal the importance of revenue assurance is continuing to grow, with over 60 per cent of respondents believing revenue assurance to be more important than in previous years.

Azure is the world’s largest revenue-assurance company. It enables operators to reduce losses and safeguard profits from malicious and unintentional revenue leakage, such as billing errors, poor processes and fraud. Azure has over 65 customers across the world comprising fixed-line and mobile telecoms operators and cable TV companies amongst others. Its heritage can be traced back to BT (British Telecommunications plc), one of the world’s best telecoms revenue-assurance performers.

Danny Dicks, principal analyst at Analysys, said: “This is the fourth year we have carried out the research and it is clear that operators arebecoming more realistic about loss levels. Consequently many operators now have dedicated revenue-assurance teams and are investing in external help, in order to reduce losses.”

John Cronin, CEO and president of Azure Solutions, said: “Whilst revenue assurance is moving up the agenda for many operators, the research figures show that there is still a long way to go. The higher-value and added complexity of emerging next-generation services, mean that operators need to plan for and implement revenue assurance now, otherwise they risk losing significant due revenue.”

The full ‘Operator Attitudes to Revenue Assurance 2005’ report is free to operators. To receive a copy of the report please go to www.azuresolutions.com/survey05