Spark agrees to joint telco code to tackle scams

Monday, 23 April 2018

Spark says the most effective weapon against scams is still a vigilant public.

In a continuing battle against online fraud, Spark is partnering with the telecommunications industry to share information on scammers.

Spark is partnering with the NZ Telecommunications Forum, whose scam-calling prevention code aimed to improve the process of identifying, verifying and taking action on scam calls to landline and mobile phones.

Overseas scamming operations tend to cycle through a variety of international and local numbers to make their activity appear legitimate.

Acting chief executive of Spark home, mobile and business Grant McBeath said previously, when Spark had spotted scam activity on its network, it had lacked a fast and simple way to coordinate between other New Zealand service providers to block it.

'This new code puts in place processes and timeframes to quickly tackle scam calling patterns once we've identified them and share them amongst other networks for the benefit of all New Zealanders,' he said.

According to Netsafe last year New Zealanders lost $10.1 million from online scams and fraud. The largest single loss reported was $480,000.

* Scamming doesn't always start with a phone call

* Scam victims out of pocket to tune of $10.1 million

Vodafone and 2degrees have also partnered with the forum.

A Vodafone spokeswoman said as scam calls almost always originated overseas, there were multiple paths for the calls to get to New Zealanders, and therefore no one carrier could effectively block them on their own.

According to Netsafe last year New Zealanders lost $10.1 million from online scams and fraud. The largest single loss reported was $480,000.

McBeath said that as technology improved, so did scams.

'The most effective way to stay safe from scams is still to be vigilant and wary when a call is unexpected.

'Even if we manage to reduce scam calls significantly through this new partnership, some scam calls will still get through.

'Ultimately, we need every individual to know what to look out for,' he said.

Overseas scamming operations tend to cycle through a variety of international and local numbers to make their activity appear legitimate, and use calling techniques that go through several providers to make it harder to trace the origin of the call.

Spark has also set up a scam alert page where customers can get updates and view the different tactics a scammer might be using, and be aware of the latest characteristics of a scam across both email and phone.