Telecom Fraud Is Evolving. So Should Your Strategy.

In 2023, telecom fraud accounted for nearly $39 billion in global losses, according to the Communications Fraud Control Association (CFCA). But this isn’t just a technical problem—it’s a behavioral one.

Telecom fraud thrives in the gray space between process and people. And it often goes undetected not because teams lack tools, but because the tools weren’t built to understand human context.

At Fortza, we challenge the idea that fraud is a single act. We see it as the result of cumulative behavioral drift.

Fraud is psychological before it’s technical.

When a sales rep inputs fake data to meet quota, or when a customer provides just enough real information to pass a basic validation check, it doesn’t always look suspicious in isolation.

But viewed over time, with enough behavioral data points, patterns emerge:

• Address formats or phone numbers that don’t match user norms
• New accounts that mirror the same structure and timing
• Login locations inconsistent with past behavior

These aren’t edge cases. They’re clues—if your systems know how to see them.

The real risk: when incentives collide with loopholes.

One telecom client discovered that reps were manipulating ZIP code and device metadata to trigger onboarding bonuses. It wasn’t a breach. It wasn’t malware. It was human behavior shaped by incentive design.

What Fortza uncovered:

• Dozens of new signups tied to identical time windows and locations
• Behavioral similarities in how data fields were completed
• An unusually high rate of early account abandonment

Fraud wasn’t the starting point. It was the outcome of unchecked behavioral patterns.

Why current tools fall short:

Traditional systems look for technical anomalies—IP mismatches, repeat attempts, velocity checks. But fraudsters know this. They adapt.

Fortza adds a psychosocial layer:

• Recognizing behavioral norms and deviations
• Mapping fraud clusters across user behavior, not just fields
• Flagging low-friction fraud, where everything looks legit until it’s not

What Fortza enables:

For telecom fraud teams, this means:

• Deeper insight into the human factors behind each transaction
• Faster resolution by isolating behaviorally suspect patterns
• Stronger prevention through early detection of psychosocial drift

Because fraud isn’t just about data. It’s about people.

Want to know what your systems might be missing? Visit https://tryfortza.com to explore how Fortza helps telecom teams detect fraud at the behavioral level—before the damage is done.

Sources:

• CFCA: cfca.org
• Subex: subex.com
• Appinventiv: appinventiv.com