New i3forum Work Group Fights A2P Messaging Fraud

i3forum, a not-for-profit industry body enabling and accelerating transformation across the carrier ecosystem, has launched its Messaging Fraud work group.

The work group is set to benefit the entire telecoms ecosystem through knowledge sharing, insights and collaboration from key industry players to fight A2P messaging fraud.

Work group members include AT&T, BICS, Deutsche Telekom ICSS, Lanck Telecom, Orange, OTE Globe, PCCW Global, Sparkle and Tata Communications. Its initial objectives are to promote information sharing and mutual education about combating messaging fraud amongst carriers, while identifying best practices across different regulatory environments.

The Messaging Fraud work group will collaborate to fight messaging fraud across the industry, solving crucial market challenges with new insights and solutions.

“Messaging fraud impacts the entire telecoms ecosystem and can result in loss of revenue, reputation and trust. i3forum’s Messaging Fraud work group brings the international carrier community together to tackle this challenge and enables us to deliver a consistent and coordinated effort to combat messaging fraud,” said Anurag Aggarwal, Chair of the Messaging Fraud work group. “We are aiming to enhance fraud prevention measures and their adoption to protect all kinds of industry players, from carriers to aggregators, MNOs, enterprises and end users.”

The Messaging Fraud work group aims to promote a Code of Conduct and a Classification Document to define the various types of fraud schemes, the types of disputes and recommendations on how to address those issues for carriers. It has already conducted a survey of its members and their messaging fraud challenges and shared this data within the group. The work group will collaborate to mitigate all kinds of messaging fraud in the industry, including identity theft, data theft, network manipulation and commercial exploitation.

“With the success of our Fight Against Fraud work group focusing on voice, it is great to launch a new initiative in the messaging space. Messaging fraud is of growing importance for carriers and with the support of the work group members, we can help to tackle it. It is a tremendous opportunity to execute on our vision and mission to shape the future of the international telecommunications sector,” said Philippe Millet, Chairman at i3forum.

Beyond the i3forum, the work group is also collaborating with the Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF), a global trade body that acts as an impartial and authoritative champion for addressing issues affecting the broadening mobile ecosystem. MEF has been a frontrunner in combating messaging fraud and its A2P SMS Code of Conduct sets out best practices for tackling all major fraud types that have been identified, defined and mapped in the MEF’s Enterprise Messaging Fraud Framework. One of the work group’s first deliverables will be its contribution to the MEF’s Code of Conduct.

“We are excited to have international carriers support MEF’s efforts in the fight against A2P messaging fraud. It is critical that the entire telecoms ecosystem is a trusted environment, free from fraudulent practices and poor end user experiences”, said Joanne Lacey, Chief Operating Officer at MEF. We look forward to collaborating with the i3forum and members of the international carrier community to support the roll out of v2 of our Code of Conduct and help drive greater adoption of Trust in Enterprise Messaging.”

i3forum is a not-for-profit industry body that brings together the international Carrier ecosystem to enable and accelerate transformation.

Its members promote industrywide collaboration with an open and inclusive model focused on enabling success in a changing market. i3forum decides the challenges and topics to address based on what will accelerate transformation and create real benefits for members and the entire telecommunications ecosystem.