For Immediate Release
1200 G Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20005 202/628-6380 202/393-5453 (fax)	Contact: John Bernhards Director of Public Relations Phone: 202/434-8850 E-mail: jbernhards@atis.org

ATIS Telecom Fraud Prevention Committee Informs FCC of Methods to Prevent Con Artists from Obtaining Telephone Company Information

July 17, 2002, Washington, D.C. - In an effort to alert telecommunications companies to fraudulent methods utilized by individuals attempting to obtain confidential information from telephone companies, ATIS' Telecommunications Fraud Prevention Committee (TFPC) informed the FCC of new methods to combat deceptive behavior.

In a recent letter to the FCC, the TFPC recommended that telephone companies combat fraud by putting into practice the approaches outlined in its white paper entitled, "Social Engineering Targeting Telecommunications Employees." Among telecom fraud experts, "social engineering" refers to the activities of scam artists who falsely represent themselves as either telecom service customers or telephone company employees in order to successfully obtain customer information, proprietary information, or access to a telephone company. The white paper addresses the various methods of fraud used to obtain private information, and identifies possible solutions and best practices to stop fraudulent attacks.

"Very often, information obtained fraudulently from a telephone company is used to initiate other telephone accounts as well as commercial credit card accounts," said Darvey Gore, Manager, Fraud Management, BellSouth and TFPC Moderator. "The TFPC white paper is a valuable resource for educating employees on the techniques of social engineers, the problems they cause and how to detect a social engineer. Telecommunications companies, especially new entrants to the industry, are encouraged to obtain a copy of the white paper."

The white paper is available to telecommunications companies and may be obtained by contacting Nikki Watson at nwatson@atis.org. The TFPC is an open forum for the discussion and resolution of industry-wide issues associated with telecommunications fraud.

About ATIS

The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) is a member company organization that is the leader for standards and operating procedures for the telecommunications industry. More than 400 telecommunications companies participate in ATIS' 20 committees, forums, and Incubator Solutions programs, where work focus includes wireline and wireless network interconnection standards, number portability, improved data transmission, Internet telephony, toll-free access, telecom fraud, and order and billing issues, among others. ATIS is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Visit the ATIS web site at www.atis.org.

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