Fraud Prevention Software – IVR Security

What is Fraud Prevention Software?

Fraud prevention software is a type of technology used to identify and prevent fraudulent activities, such as unauthorized financial transactions, identity theft, and other types of scams. It leverages advanced AI-algorithms, machine learning and data analysis techniques to analyze patterns, anomalies and inconsistencies in data to detect potential fraud.

Basic Fraud Detection Software

Basic fraud detection software is helpful with online communications that can access and run the algorithms built to protect the company’s systems, portals, websites, etc. This software may not be enough to protect customers when they are communicating via telephony channels whether landline or mobile. Preventing fraud over voice communications channels has its own challenges, including spotting fraudsters and deep fakes that need, that basic fraud prevention software is unable to fully handle. The good thing is that most companies have security measures in place to protect personal customer information, so there is a foundation to build from.

There are a whole host of different secure authentication practices– knowledge based, voice and biometric, two-factor. Multi-factor, etc. – available to build the right solution for a business For outbound calls and incoming calls, it is common for companies such as banks and other financial services firms to use automatic number identification (ANI) to validate customer identity.

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User Identification in Cyber Security

The problem with user identification as a single layer of security is that the device doesn’t define the person, or vice versa. Most people rely on mobile phones to perform secure transactions and other personal tasks with sensitive information. While those devices certainly offer all kinds of convenience, they can also easily be lost or stolen. 

This raises the question: How do you know that the person on the other end of the phone is who it should be?

As a result, fraud experts suggest that companies treat these types of interactions as “person not present” cases. This term creates a distinction between a situation where a person is physically present and presents a card to complete a transaction versus one where the payer and the payee are in different physical locations. It’s the same idea as “card not present” in the payments industry.

IVR System Caller Identification and Verification Solution

Secure interactive voice response (IVR) systems built with tools such as Plum Fuse can help solve this problem. They can authenticate callers by requesting specific information, such as account numbers, PINs or passwords at the beginning or during the call. This type of secure IVR system verifies the information provided by the caller/ customer against the stored data in the database before giving them access to any customer data. This ensures that only authorized individuals can access their accounts or sensitive information.

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Anti-Fraud Prevention APIs and Cloud IVR

Combining secure IVR  applications with additional fraud prevention technology mitigates these challenges. Fortunately, Plum Voice’s secure IVR technology tools makes it easy to connect fraud detection APIs to these anti-fraud solutions.

Different AI fraud detection software services offer different solutions with a broad realm of possibility. For example, with location services enabled on a mobile device, fraud prevention technology can establish user location trends. This makes it possible to detect, based on the caller’s physical location, when someone is calling from home, work, the gym or any other frequently visited location.

Secure IVR Detection & Phone Tracking Application Solutions

One option for fraud defense is to not only validate phone numbers against customer data, but to verify that the caller’s current location matches one of the “frequent places” associated with them.

If the caller’s location is outside the threshold established around their “frequent places,” then the system throws an error. At that point, the system is programmed as to  what action to take, whether that involves locking an account, requiring additional security information or something else altogether.

This type of technology delivers an added layer of protection for companies and customers alike. By identifying potential issues in real-time before fraudsters can access customer data and wreak havoc, the business protects its business practices, financial accounts and brand identity, while the customer data is kept secure.

Secure IVR Systems for Fraud Prevention

Multi-factor authentication (MFA)

Secure IVR systems can implement multi-factor authentication by requiring callers to provide additional proof of identity beyond simple account numbers or PINs. This may include answering security questions, providing a one-time passcode sent via text or email or using voice biometrics to verify the caller’s identity.

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Real-time fraud detection

Secure IVR systems can be integrated with fraud detection software to analyze callers’ behavior and patterns, identify anomalies and flag potentially fraudulent activities in real-time. If suspicious behavior is detected, the system can trigger alerts or escalate the call to a human agent for further investigation.

IVR call recording and monitoring

Secure IVR systems can record calls for later analysis and monitoring. These recordings can be used to investigate fraudulent activities, provide evidence in case of disputes and train machine learning algorithms to improve fraud detection capabilities.

Limiting sensitive information exposure

By automating certain processes and transactions, secure IVR systems built with tools like Plum Fuse and SecureAssistant can reduce the need for human intervention. They minimize the risk of sensitive information being exposed to fraudsters through social engineering or insider threats.

Enhanced privacy protection

Secure IVR systems can be configured to mask sensitive information, such as credit card numbers or Social Security Numbers (SSN), during the call. This helps protect the caller’s information from potential eavesdropping or interception.

Time-based restrictions

Secure IVR systems can enforce time-based restrictions on certain transactions such as limiting the number of password reset requests or fund transfers within a specific time frame. This can help prevent fraudsters from exploiting these functionalities for unauthorized activities.

Benefits of Automated Fraud Prevention Software

Speed and efficiency

Automated secure IVR systems can process and analyze vast amounts of data at a much faster rate than humans. Given the high volume of transactions and user activities that occur daily, automation enables real-time monitoring and rapid detection of potential fraud, helping to minimize losses and respond to threats promptly.

Consistency and accuracy

Automated fraud prevention software can consistently apply predefined rules and models across all transactions and data points, reducing the likelihood of human error or oversight. Moreover, machine learning algorithms can improve their accuracy and adapt to new fraud patterns over time, further enhancing detection capabilities.

Scalability

As businesses grow and expand, the number of transactions and data to be monitored increases exponentially. Automated secure IVR fraud prevention software can easily scale to handle this growth, ensuring that fraud detection capabilities remain effective as the business evolves.

Reduced manual workload

By automating fraud detection tasks with secure IVR systems, businesses can free up valuable resources and allow employees to focus on more strategic and complex tasks, such as investigating flagged cases or developing new fraud prevention strategies.

Continuous learning and improvement

Fraud prevention software based on machine learning algorithms can learn from user feedback and historical data to refine its models and detection capabilities continually. This adaptability is essential for staying ahead of fraudsters who are constantly evolving their tactics to bypass security measures.

Cost-effectiveness

Automated fraud prevention software can help businesses save on operational costs by reducing the need for manual intervention and the number of false positives, which require time-consuming investigations.

Minimizing human bias

Automation helps eliminate human bias and subjectivity in fraud detection, ensuring that all transactions are assessed objectively and consistently.

Plum Voice Fraud Prevention Solutions

To learn how Plum Voice’s secure IVR tools and secure cloud platform can help reduce fraud threats, contact us today!

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Plum SecureAssistant User Identification & Data Collection

Plum SecureAssistant (SecureAssistant) is a highly secure tool for transmitting sensitive data, which enables a live agent to gather confidential customer information through a PCI-compliant virtual agent. The use of SecureAssistant ensures that the live agent is unable to hear any shared information, thereby preventing data from being captured on insecure recording equipment or noted down and misused.

Given the significance of information security for businesses, there are considerable risks involved in having callers provide their payment and personal information to live agents over the phone who may mishandle it or use it maliciously. SecureAssistant eliminates the need for tedious back-and-forth conversations between the caller and the live agent, while simultaneously ensuring secure data transmission for the business.

Plum Fuse Secure IVR Software

Plum Fuse is an intuitive drag and drop, low-code, Graphical User Interface (GUI) tool that allows developers and non-technical users to create and manage IVR systems, virtual agents and conversational AI solutions. All Plum Voice tools live on the Plum Voice platform that is built on a fault-tolerant and scalable cloud architecture which eliminates on-site hardware and support. It is delivered over a Tier 1 telecom infrastructure with built-in redundancy and designed for 99.9% uptime of your voice applications.