Industry leaders in addressing SIM Box fraud join forces to offer most comprehensive detection and location service to telecoms operators globally
• First commercial project with a telecom regulatory authority in Africa
• Bypass fraud remains the biggest risk to operator revenues globally
1st November 2021: Revector and LATRO – two market leading companies in the detection and eradication of bypass fraud on mobile networks globally – today announce a partnership to combine their collective technologies to offer the most comprehensive global solution for telecoms operators wishing to address SIM Box fraud.
SIM Box fraud represents one of the biggest threats to telecoms operator revenues globally. It occurs when fraudsters offer to terminate calls via SIM Boxes full of SIM cards that are being used for call termination rather than for legitimate in-country calling. If the cost of making a local call in a country is less than the revenue generated from call terminations, fraudsters can exploit this difference to defraud telecoms operators of termination revenues. SIM Box fraud is one of the most common threats to operator revenues with more than 80 percent of operators experiencing the fraud. In June 2021, the Communications Fraud Control Association (CFCA) estimated that the industry lost almost three billion dollars per year to SIM Box fraud.
A partnership of anti-fraud expertise
The new partnership brings together the expertise of two of the most innovative and effective anti-fraud companies in telecommunications. Revector has been addressing telecommunications fraud for more than 20 years, working with governments, regulators and telecoms network operators in more than 100 countries globally to reduce the risk of fraud and revenue loss.
LATRO offers innovative solutions to telecom operators and national regulators – including its patent-pending Protocol Signature™ technology that proactively detects illegal SIM Boxes before fraud losses occur. LATRO’s innovative approach has enabled telecoms operators in more than 50 countries to overcome limitations of legacy anti-fraud products and beat fraud before it occurs, protecting revenue in near real-time.
Real world application
Revector has successfully integrated LATRO’s patent-pending Protocol Signature™ technology into its IMSI catcher technology and solutions while LATRO will deploy Revector’s IMSI catcher technology to enhance the company’s already best in class fraud geolocation service. Revector’s IMSI catchers, which can be mounted on a vehicle, hand carried or even deployed on a UAV (drone) will enable LATRO to quickly identify the precise location of any active SIM card, helping to quickly identify where SIM Box farms are based and locate the perpetrators of the fraud. This information can be shared with local law enforcement to directly intervene, ensuring that the fraudsters are stopped in their tracks.
This new partnership between LATRO and Revector has already proven successful with a recent signed agreement to provide fraud location and detection services to a telecommunications regulator in Africa to directly address the issue of SIM Box fraud in this country.
Andy Gent, CEO of Revector, comments: “As our business evolves and globalises, we’ve made the decision to create this partnership to combine our strengths in location detection with LATRO’s expertise in addressing SIM Box fraud. The combined partnership plays to the strengths of both parties as demonstrated by this early win in Africa.”
Donald Reinhart, CEO of LATRO comments: “As the global anti-fraud market consolidates, it makes sense to bring together like minded experts to offer the widest and most comprehensive service possible. As Revector’s focus has shifted to location detection services, so our businesses have become more complementary. The success of this partnership has already been demonstrated with our first successful joint contract and we look forward to collaborating on many more.”