Consumers are falling prey to the growing risk of phone fraud, it is claimed. A study warns that criminals can use information found on social media profiles to answer weak security questions, posed by banks, to gain access to accounts. Responses to an independent survey of consumers in the UK, France and Germany suggested a similar trend across each country; nearly two thirds of consumers have shared answers to security questions on their social media channels. The study commissioned by Pindrop Labs was by Loudhouse, a London-based independent research agency tht surveyed 3000 consumers across UK, France and Germany, in April 2017.
Respondents also proved to be frustrated with current authentication methods especially in the phone channel. In the UK, 43pc regularly contact service providers at least once a month by phone. Over half (57pc) admit forgetting the answers to security questions when they call their bank or utility company. While 50pc believe that too many companies ask the same questions to authenticate.
Matt Peachey, Vice President of International at Pindrop, a voice security and authentication company, said: “It would appear that fraudsters are taking advantage of consumers unassuming nature of sharing personal details on their social media profiles. These consumers are exposing themselves to significant risk, as fraudsters can use these details to successfully pass security questions over the phone. In fact, financial institutions report that 61pc of their fraud cases touch the phone channel. The issue is much more extreme amongst 18-24 year olds where 80pc confirmed that they have at least one piece of information on social profiles that is used for personal verification, including date or place of birth. “The lines of defence across online and offline security must be connected; both by consumers and by banks and utilities companies.”
The study found that consumers underestimate the potential for fraudsters to use the phone channel to take over their accounts. While 64pc of respondents feared their accounts being hacked online, only 55pc were afraid of fraudsters being able to gain access to their accounts over the phone. In addition, consumers did not understand how fraudsters are leveraging personal data. Fewer than one in ten, 8pc of consumers agreed that they had a high level of knowledge about where and how their personal data is used. Compared to 12 months ago, one in four consumers feels less confident that their personal information is being suitably protected.
Peachey added: “The survey found that 57pc of all respondents called their bank within the last month so the challenge these organisations face, is how to continue to offer exceptional customer service over the phone without neglecting security. Following recent news that voice biometrics can be easily hacked it’s clear that using just your voice as your password is not enough. To better tackle fraud attacks on the phone channel, organisations require a multi-layered form of defence. The solution must analyse voice as well as the audio and network characteristics of the call itself.”
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