Nuisance Calls and Texts - NICC Standards...recommends ban on referral fees for personal injury...

Nuisance Calls and Texts

Neil Cook, Cloudmark Chief Technology Officer

Cloudmark Confidential. Do not copy, repurpose, or distribute.

Who is Cloudmark?

Cloudmark Service

Data Feed

Global Operator Networks

Mobile Operator

Mobile Operator

Security Operations

Cloudmark Service Traffic Analysis System Expert Analysis System

Trust Evaluation System

Advanced Message Fingerprinting Algorithms

THREATS

Cloudmark Research

Cloudmark Advanced Fingerprinting Algorithms

THREATS

GSMA Spam Reporting Service

Cloudmark develops messaging security software solutions for communications service providers to protect their networks and subscribers from spam, fraud, phishing and malware.


Are Nuisance Calls and Texts Really a Problem?

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Source: Step Change Debt Charity

Source: Step Change Debt Charity

More than 45M people in the UK have received unsolicited calls or text messages.

Cloudmark Confidential. Do not copy, repurpose, or distribute. 3

Are Nuisance Calls and Texts Really a Problem?

Nearly 2 Billion SMS spam sent in the UK annually.

200 Million SMS Spam Variants

92% of British adults who text say it is at least somewhat important that their carrier have a mechanism for reporting mobile spam.

Source: Cloudmark


Common Attack Types in the UK

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35%

39%

48%

51%

62%

Financial Product Sales

Non Financial Product Sales

Silent Calls

Personal Injury Claims

PPI Compensation

Most Common Nuisance Call Types

Source: Which?, 2013

6%

7%

10%

21%

41%

Debt Relief

Product Promotion

Accident Compensation

PPI Compensation

Payday Loan Spam

Most Common SMS Spam Types

Source: Cloudmark, 3Q 2013

Citizens Advice UK, 2013



2/3 of British adults have received PPI themed nuisance texts and calls.

90% by phone

40% by automated message

35% by text

98% Did not give permission to be contacted.


Common UK SMS Spam Attack Examples

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We have been trying to contact you regarding your PPI claim, we have details to show that you could be owed £2500.Reply REFUND or STOP REFUND to Opt Out.

PPI

Friday Cash! 100% acceptance on ALL payday loans, cash in your account Before 17:00 at www.[REDACTED].net. Apply now for Cash Today !! Reply stop to stop.

Accident and Personal Injury

Payday Loan

2612.84 is waiting in your name, its compensation for the accident you had, to get it sent out ASAP fill out the form at http://www.[REDACTED].mobi

http://www./

http://www./


Call For Change

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Coordinated approach: • Regulation • Reporting • In-Network Filtering

Regulation

• Information Commissioner’s Office fines PPI spammers

UK, civil action 2012-11-28 (raided 2011-08, 2012-02)

• Regulations against referral fees for personal injury cases

UK, civil penalties 2013-04-01

• London police arrest pension liberation spammers

UK, criminal action 2013-05-09

PPI Spam, UK • January 2011, PPI compensation spam ramps up

Unsure if you qualify for a refund of PPI paid on a loan or credit card? Reply PPI and we will run a no obligation check or reply STOP to opt out.

• 27 July 2011, Tetrus Telecoms (Gary McNeish and Chris Neibel) in Stockport called on by ICO enforcement officers. McNeish already living in Thailand.

• 29 July 2011, SMS spam sent via Stockport mast ceases

http://breachwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/tetrus_mcneish_monetary_penalty_notice.pdf

• 11 August 2011, ICO search warrant for now vacant Stockport location

• 28 February 2012, search of Neibel’s home • 24 September 2012, letter of intent served on

McNeish • 26 November 2012, fines levied by ICO

Personal Injury Referral Fee Ban, UK

December 21, 2009, Lord Justice Jackson's Review of Civil Litigation Costs recommends ban on referral fees for personal injury claims May 1, 2012, UK Government approves ban as part of Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 April Fool’s Day, 2013, ban takes effect

Lawyers in UK have tight restrictions on advertising, but were allowed to pay for cases referred to them

Source: Linkedin

Pension Liberation SMS Spam, UK Hi, as you have a frozen pension, you can get a large cash payment within 4 weeks, to get it started today reply 'CASH' to this text IMPORTANT FREE MESSAGE: Release CASH from your frozen UK Pension Minimum pension value 18,000 call 020 8720 7291 (no cash fees) To Opt-Out reply stop Tino great news for Xmas release a cash lump sum from your pension even if under 55 Old or new pensions can be released Visit www.freemypensionfund.com No mention of tax penalties for early withdrawal Either advanced fee scams or fraudulent investment schemes

Pension Liberation Arrests

February 2013, UK Pensions Regulator created a task force: • Serious Fraud Office • Serious Organized Crime Agency • Home Office

May 9th, 2013, arrests and computers seized in London, Glasgow, Ayr and Cheshire

Photo: Wikipedia Commons


APPG on Nuisance Calls and Texts September 10, 2013

Key Recommendations: • Improve compliance • Make reporting easier and more

effective • Protect and empower consumers • Improve the regulators’ capacity

to take action

12 Cloudmark Confidential. Do not copy, repurpose, or distribute.

Reporting

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Many countries have deployed GSMA SRS • Global service for spam intelligence • Subscribers report SMS spam to

short code 7726 • Real-time insight to network traffic • Operators and regulator share all

information facilitated by SRS

Automated Analysis

Analytics Dashboard

Attack Fingerprint

Subscriber Reports

In-Network Filtering


Clean Traffic

Application Firewall

Spam/Virus Filtering Message Fingerprinting

Global & Per-Subscriber Policies

Sender Reputation and Volumetric Controls

Clean Traffic Spam and Fraud

Message Type Restrictions

Network Level Protection Network Firewall


Conclusions

Regulation

Reporting

In Network Filtering

• Nuisance calls and texts are on the rise in the UK

• Not just nuisance – includes fraud and other malicious activities

• Consumers want protection • Successful strategy will

include: - Regulation - Reporting - In network filtering

Thank you

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Nuisance Calls and Texts - NICC Standards...recommends ban on referral fees for personal injury...

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