Robotext surge can undermine your organization, but can be stopped: fraudulent use of texting is getting more sophisticated

“This is a monstrously huge problem,” says Chris Drake Senior Vice President, Corporate and Business Development at iconectiv. According to Robokiller, Americans received 78 billion robotexts in the first half of 2023, an 18% increase from the same time frame last year, and these texts are often linked to scams. “It’s a massive problem.” The robotext issue is made more acute by the migration of many people, away from voice, to use text as a primary, and perhaps, even more trusted, communications platform. 98% of text messages are read, an engagement rate far above email. Meanwhile, fraudulent use of texting is getting more sophisticated, with even seasonality, capitalizing on events or holidays (holiday sales), pushing familiar ethnic or national button to get people to reply. Since 2020, businesses can now text, making it easier for impersonators to present themselves as trusted brands. “The fraudsters know you’re going to see them. That’s the key thing.”

In this podcast, Drake presents the extent of the problem and then discusses steps to protect yourself. Drake lays out some basic and nearly free of cost steps to protect yourself, your credit, and your devices. We learn about a variety of free resources and ways to share experiences to report and increase the body of available knowledge on threat.

Protecting Your Business

Drake walks us through the way iconectiv is helping customers achieve a secure digital identity.  As the Local Number Portability Administrator (LNPA) for the United States, iconectiv manages the nation’s Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC). We learn about programs such as short code registry, registered caller, Telecommunications Relay Services Numbering Directory for Internet-based TRS (iTRS) and Calling Number Verification Service. Now is a good time to get going on addressing these matters, as an organization. Texting’s criticality is only going to increase.

Visit https://iconectiv.com/