Optus hopes that more sophisticated AI and machine learning modeling will help detect and quarantine fraudulent text messages in near real time.
Speaking at the recent Optus Tech Day, Belinda Lofts, senior director of data services engineering, said the telcos aim to be “relentless in ensuring that fewer fraudulent SMS reach their customers.”
Part of that purpose is through increased investment in AI and machine learning capabilities, which we believe are important tools for fighting fraud.
“We will consider enhancing our machine learning models to include more content. [detection] We also plan to start looking into introducing AI,” Lofts said.
“Partnerships will continue to be key for us as we believe we cannot do this alone.
“These will be key because we need to work together to solve these problems.”
Lofts hoped the additional investment would allow Optus to get ahead of scammers and block more messages from being delivered to customers’ devices.
According to Lofts, Optus has already implemented a number of tools to protect its customers from receiving voice and SMS fraud, including an “SMS firewall in front of the platform,” which ” Filter and block all messages” Scam messages against us. ”
Firewall rules are based on blacklists of identified fraudulent numbers and either alpha tags or alphanumeric sender IDs.
“In this case, the sender ID comes as a name or a word rather than the mobile phone number itself,” says Lofts.
“In fact, we can even block these from overseas networks that access our customers here in Australia.”
Lofts said Optus also employs “smart content filtering analytics that can actually distinguish fraudulent messages from legitimate messages.”
Other measures in place include partnering with various governments in Australia to look for “malicious URLs, potentially specific phrases and even callback numbers.”
“One of the big things we observed is that as soon as we implement effective rules to block fraudulent messages, we know that the scammers have changed the content of their messages. , continues to adapt,” Loft said.
“We need to get ahead of them.”
An Optus spokesperson said: iTnews The company “continues to evolve our capabilities to introduce better and broader sources of fraud intelligence, roll out smarter auto-detection capabilities, and enhance information sharing.”
“Automation, AI, and machine learning capabilities are all important capabilities for enhancing fraud protection,” the spokesperson said.
“This technology allows us to effectively distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent messages in near real-time.
“These capabilities allow us to identify fraudulent activity faster and respond more quickly.”
The spokesperson added that speed of identification and blocking is “essential for effective fraud prevention.”
“Scammers are constantly evolving and change their approach as soon as a block comes in,” the spokesperson continued.
“For effective protection, solutions must be created and implemented as quickly as fraudsters.”
Optus has also partnered with the Australian Financial Crime Exchange (AFCX) on a new feature the agency is developing called the Anti-Fraud Intelligence Loop. This feature allows you to identify current fraudulent websites and numbers that your carrier blocks.
Optus has also developed a ‘call stop’ that can notify users that the phone number they are trying to call may be fraudulent.
