In the news

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Interview with CBS: Basketball fans experience scam through text messages during March Madness craze

CBS Corpus Christi’s Victoria Balderrama reports on the dangers of NCAA March Madness. Balderrama turns to a fraud mitigation expert, Chris Drake, for tips on what to watch out for as the tournament progresses. The SVP of iconectiv warns views to never download a file from a text message sent by an unknown 10-digit number, as they can infect the device with malware. As a precaution, he suggests sports fans freeze their credit and back up their phone.
Mar 15, 2023
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Interview with FOX: Mobile Betting Scams: Sports betting expert shares ways to avoid scams ahead of March Madness

Fox Boston reports on the uptick in scams looking to cash in on the urgency surrounding March Madness betting. Chris Drake, SVP of iconectiv, shares his insight on the topic and warns viewers to be wary of 10-digit numbers, as they are easy to spoof. Other red flags to be on the lookout for include misspelled words, attachments/links or any request to be sent money via an untraceable method, such as cryptocurrency, gift cards or payment apps. Drake recommends that sports fans caught in a scam disengage and report the scam to the FTC or local police.
Mar 15, 2023
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Interview with FOX: March Madness scammers? How to keep yourself safe

FOX Cleveland’s Brad Hamilton seeks input from iconectiv SVP, George Cray, on how scammers are leveraging March Madness to steal personal information. Cray warns that Ohio is a hotspot for scams, as the state can now legally bet on the tournament. He suggests putting a freeze on your credit and reporting scams to the local police.
Mar 14, 2023
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Interview with FOX: March Madness brings the Final Four, and scammers, to Houston

Tom Zizka of FOX Houston warns viewers that March Madness is an opportunity for fraudsters to steal fans’ personal information. Scammers will use the NCAA tournament to craft texts around ticket sales or a betting opportunity in hopes to trick receivers into sharing personal information or clicking malicious links. George Cray, VP at iconectiv, offers insight as a telecom security expert and recommends never trusting these texts with sensitive information or clicking links. Zizka explains that another level of protection comes with messages from 5 or 6-digit numbers. Businesses have registered and undergone a vetting process to obtain these numbers, making them much more trustworthy.
Mar 14, 2023
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Interview with CBS: “They cleared my whole bank account,” Jax woman scammed, experts now warning others about spam texts

Megan Moriarty of CBS Jacksonville shares the story of how Tesa Childs was a victim of number porting fraud. The victim shared that her bank account was emptied, and the scammer had complete access to her phone. Moiarty turns to telecom expert, George Cray, VP of iconectiv, for insight on how viewers can protect themselves. Cray explains that you can never 100% trust a text from an unknow 10-digit number and that 5-6-digit short codes are more reliable.
Mar 8, 2023
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VanillaPlus Magazine Issue 1 2023: Are we nearly there yet?

In VanillaPlus Magazine, iconectiv shares an expert deep dive into origin-based rating. Over the past several years, network service providers have been feeling increased pressure to find new income streams to offset shrinking voice and data revenues, as well as margins. Origin-based rating is an untapped income opportunity that lies in how network service providers operate their business – specifically in relation to how they charge for terminating calls.
Feb 21, 2023
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Interview with FOX: Experts remind people to watch out for tax scams

Joshua Oculam of FOX Scranton cautions viewers of tax scams ramping up before April. iconectiv CTO, Chris Drake, provides expert insight on ways to keep viewers and their information safe. Drake explains that the IRS will contact Americans by notices in the mail, not by text or email. If a suspicious looking message is received, Drake warns to never click the link and to freeze your credit.
Feb 17, 2023

Press Releases

Media Contact:
Sharon Oddy
Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications
+1 732 699-5130
soddy@iconectiv.com

press release

MWC21 Spotlights How Trusted Communications is Protecting Consumers, Brands and Bottom Lines

One-ring wangiri fraud is a global scourge that’s increased 300 percent over the past few years. Under an FCC Report and Order effective Feb. 12, 2021, U.S. service providers may block calls from telephone numbers that are highly likely to be associated with one-ring robocall scams if they use reasonable analytics in deciding which telephone numbers to block. iconectiv TruNumber Protect gives service providers a cost-effective way to proactively protect their customers by providing essential information for accurately targeting the originators of one-ring and other robocalling scams. At Mobile World Congress, iconectiv will showcase the innovative ways that service providers, regulators, trade associations and other industry stakeholders are successfully mitigating fraud and spam.
Jun 15, 2021
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USTelecom Webinar Spotlights Challenges and Opportunities for Rapid 5G Rollouts

iconectiv—along with a guest speaker from IDC—will participate in a USTelecom webinar to discuss the key findings from the latest iconectiv sponsored IDC whitepaper. Presenters will cover topics such as the challenges service providers face in their deployment and support strategies for 5G, the role of a universal structure in the deployment and more.
May 13, 2021
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IDC Whitepaper Addresses The Challenges Of Cost-Effectively Deploying 5G At Scale

The greatest challenge communication service providers face is keeping pace with technology advancements – like 5G – that support the rollout of new revenue-generating services in a way that is both profitable and scaleable. One of the main hurdles to achieving this is the deployment, management and interconnection of physical and virtual assets that support these services. To address this challenge, IDC has released a new whitepaper, “Common Language Drives Customer Value for All Network Technology: 5G/MEC and Virtualized Networking,” which discusses how a common naming strategy improves the effectiveness of real-time network operations and key business management functions while also bringing increased awareness when launching and managing new network-based services.
Apr 29, 2021
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Best Practices for Building a Secure Foundation for RCS

iconectiv’s Chris Drake and MEF’s Paul Eccles will participate in a virtual event titled, RCS Verified Sender: The Importance of Zero Trust and Reputation to the Business Messaging Ecosystem. During this virtual panel, global industry experts will address the complex world of business messaging and best practices for implementing a sender verification framework.
Mar 17, 2021
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SIP Forum Welcomes New Telecom Leaders to its Board of Directors as the Industry Addresses Illegal Robocalls and Caller ID Spoofing

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Forum, a group that works directly with service providers and equipment vendors to develop the best practices for deploying the SIP-based framework end to end in the United States, has elected iconectiv’s CTO Chris Drake to its Board of Directors alongside industry leaders from AT&T, Verizon, Lumen, Comcast, Cox Communications, and Microsoft. As a member of the Board of Directors, Drake will help provide guidance and overall governance of all SIP Forum operations.
Mar 16, 2021
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iconectiv CTO Chris Drake Takes Leadership Position with GSMA

Telecommunications services like calls and messages are fundamental to everyday existence, and service providers heavily depend on the availability of affordable and interoperable technologies to meet customer expectations for reliability. The Global System Mobile Association (GSMA) launched a new process for the governance and approval of industry specifications, including the creation of the Industry Specifications Approving Group (ISAG) as the oversight and approval body for all industry specification work. iconectiv’s CTO Chris Drake has been appointed as one of a limited number of non-service provider members of the group. The ISAG consists of senior representatives of the industry and includes service provider and non-service provider GSMA members.
Mar 4, 2021
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FCC Confirms Service Provider Safe Harbor for Protecting U.S. Consumers and Businesses from One-Ring “Wangiri” Robocall Scams

One-ring wangiri fraud is a global scourge that’s increased 300 percent over the past few years. Under an FCC Report and Order effective Feb. 12, 2021, U.S. service providers may block calls from telephone numbers that are highly likely to be associated with one-ring robocall scams if they use reasonable analytics in deciding which telephone numbers to block. iconectiv TruNumber Protect gives service providers a cost-effective way to proactively protect their customers by providing essential information for accurately targeting the originators of one-ring and other robocalling scams.
Feb 18, 2021