JT wins silver medal for scam prevention product

Thursday 29 August 2024

A scam prevention product created in collaboration with local telecoms provider JT has been awarded a silver medal at Datos Insights’ Fraud Impact Awards.

‘Scam Signal’ is a customer communications service that combats Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud.

The product, a collaboration between JT and data analytics company FICO, took home a silver medal in the ‘Best Scam and APP Fraud Prevention 2024’ category at the Fraud Impact Awards, hosted by Datos Insights.

APP fraud is a scam where the victim is tricked into making large bank transfers to an account posing as a legitimate payee.

Scam Signal works to prevent this by offering direct, near real-time intervention with the customer to determine if a payment should proceed.

It analyses real-time network data together with customer and payment data during live transactions to detect and mitigate attempts to deceive and defraud account holders.

To create the product, JT worked with the Global System for Mobile Communications Association and UK mobile network operators within a privacy compliant framework to access the relevant data.

FICO analysed the data and found correlations between a customer’s mobile phone behaviour and the likelihood that a scam is taking place.

Clare Messenger, Head of Mobile Intelligence Solutions at JT said: “This Scam Signal product addresses a significant and growing problem.

“Authorised Push Payment fraud continues to grow globally and in the UK market losses reported in 2023 reached £460 million.”

Adam Davies, vice president of product management at FICO added: “The integration of Scam Signal within FICO Customer Communications Service allows banks to present customers with personalised, omni-channel and highly contextualised messages that break the scammer’s spell for high-risk activities.

“These messages can be built into conversation ‘flows’ that respond in real-time to the actions the customer takes. For example, if a customer hesitates or looks to progress a payment, additional messages can be sent, and different options offered, such as suggesting delaying the payment or offering to speak to a fraud prevention specialist.”

High street banks in the UK have begun implementing Scam Signal, with the first to pilot the product reporting that they reduced the number of people scammed by 41%, decreased fraud losses from scams by 44%, and lowered false positives (payments flagged as fraud that are in fact genuine) by 55%.