Skype 1 – 0 Robocalls: How TeleSign helped Skype “Score” against fraudulent callers TADSummit EMEA Americas 2020 Abhijeet Singh, Senior Product Manager, TeleSign Robocalling has caused a major customer experience issue and causes severe reputational damage for communication apps and services. This session will touch upon how TeleSign helped Skype screen and flag around 1 million incoming Robocalls per day to Skype provided private virtual numbers by leveraging Score’s global network consortium and machine learning capabilities thereby protecting the end-user interests and safeguarding them against these fraudulent calls.

1. Skype 1 – 0 Robocalls
How TeleSign helped Skype “Score” against
fraudulent callers
www.telesign.com

2. Abhijeet Singh
International Lead – Digital Identity Experts
14 years in fraud and
identity management
in multiple domains
Handled customers in
100+ countries
Amateur
photographer &
gadget hoarder
New Lockdown
learning:
Fish keeping

3. © 2020 TeleSign 3
Through APIs we deliver user verification,
comprehensive risk insights and customer communications across user
lifecycle.
Registration
Transactions
Engagement
Manage
Accounts
Support
Lead
Generation
Login
TeleSign connects and protects online experiences
with sophisticated
Digital Identity and Engagement solutions

4. Protecting 21 out of 25 of
The World’s Largest Online Properties
2FA Pioneer
17 Patents Granted
2005
+ Communications
Services
Leading CPaaS Provider
2016+ Phone Data Intelligence
Gartner Magic Quadrant
Authentication Leader
2010
+ BICS acquires TeleSign
2017 & beyond
Evolution
Move to holistic digital identity
beyond the phone number
2020+
End-to-End Communications Platform
700+ direct connections to operators
Expanded data reservoir
Verification Digital Identity Communications

5. © 2020 TeleSign 5
Communication Devices & Media
Changed Dramatically
1876 1898 1920 1963 1973 1980 1992 2013
144 Years
But we still struggle with communication identity, thriving fraud.
Can you get
some milk?
New phone,
who dis?

6. Robocalls
Scam classified Robocalls led to 56 million individuals losing $19.7 Billion in 12 months in US alone
Broad Classification
AverageMonthlySpamReceived
Spam Calls Spam Texts
© 2020 TeleSign 6Stats by Truecaller

7. Robocalls Are Everywhere
© 2020 TeleSign 7
Average spam call per user/month
Stats by Truecaller

8. They Research Their Targets
• 28% scam calls targeted using personal data.
• 75% scam victims had their personal information known, including
Social Security number
• 39% of victims had their home address known.
• They use nearby phone numbers to appear trustworthy
Also, the type calls are seasonal and targeted:
• 40% of people are more willing to donate in holidays
• Salaried and business owners get spike in fake IRS calls in the tax
season
• Retired people receive much higher amount of phishing & social
engineering calls
© 2020 TeleSign 8Stats by Truecaller, Hiya & First Orion

9. They Even Customize
© 2020 TeleSign 9Stats by Truecaller

10. Founded in 2003
Still, Skype currently has over 100 million monthly users and 40
million daily users
Pioneer in driving mass adoption of internet based rich and hybrid
communication – Video, Voice & Rich Text
Single handedly significantly affected the Telecom industry
revenues from international calling traffic – known as the “Skype
effect”
10

11. Skype & The Robocalling Problem
Like any other active phone number, Skype Numbers also had a big Robocalling
problem towards their personal & business users
Challenge

12. Skype & The Robocalling Problem
Skype
Number
+44 XXXX
Office Number
+44 XXXX
Personal
Number
+44 XXXX
Configured for
forwarding
Configured for
forwarding
Robocaller
Direct call
Direct call
Direct call
Connected to
Skype App
2 Million Inbound Calls Per Day on Skype
Numbers.
Significant portion from Robocallers!
© 2020 TeleSign 12

13. Skype & TeleSign
Skype
Number
+44 XXXX
Office Number
+44 XXXX
Personal
Number
+44 XXXX
Forwarded
Forwarded
Robocaller
Direct call
Direct call
Direct call
SPAM
FILTER
Score
Real Time API Query
Inbound Number:
+44 234 XXXX
Connected to
Skype App

14. Score
© 2020 TeleSign 14
Delivers “reputation score” to assess risk
based on phone number intelligence,
traffic patterns, machine learning, and
global data consortium for multiple uses.

15. WORLDWIDENumber Intelligence
Phone
Number
Dimensions
Behavior
No of outgoing/incoming
calls/messages
Velocity
Diversity of called numbers, countries, operators
Diversity of receiving numbers, countries, operators
Duration of calls
Tenure of numbers
Length of messages
No of countries roamed
Mobile data usage
Failed call attempts
Failed messages
Failed signaling
Type of carriers
- Tier 1,2,3,4 VOIP
Risky destinations
Premium calls
Spam content
Calling Number
Called Number Roaming Number
Sender SMS Receiver SMS
Customer Supplier
Origination
Country/Operator
Destination
Country/Operator
Trillions of global
transactions
Tokenized privacy
compliant platform
Access to largest
crowdsourced fraud
consortium database
Verification
Traffic
3rd Parties
Communication
Traffic
Operator
Data
Numbering
Plans
Cleansing
Rules
Fraud
Consortium
MNP
Databases
Customer
Feedback
2200+ behavioral
variables
Period
Volume
Range
Specific Patterns
Quality
Duration
Age
Activity Time
Connections
Velocity
Visibility
Web Scraping

16. Score API in Action

17. Score impact
1 Million
Inbound calls blocked
per month
50%
Of total inbound
calls to Skype
Numbers
Due to decrease in
short duration
robocalls
ACD
And no negative PR
on different
channels
Abuse
reports
It’s not
connecting!
Activated by default for all users
with an option to disable
© 2020 TeleSign 17

18. Mobility & Marketplace
89% fraud registrations
stopped
Online Multi Utility Company
70% fraud registrations stopped
Credit Risk Company
Online Marketplace
55% Reduction in fraud
chargebacks
Mobility Company
45% Reduction in fraud rides
Leading Software Company
104 million blocked user
recommendations in 1 year
Mobile Wallet Company
Reduced 52% fraud
transactions
40+ Million fraud
transactions stopped in 1
year
Leading Buy Now
Pay Later Provider
200K-300K USD of bad loans
prevented monthly
Credit Risk Platform Provider
Successfully utilizing Score & PhoneID
solutions to build credit risk models
Leading Gaming Provider
7% of all Phone Verification
were identified to be high risk
& blocked
Customer Success Stories Worldwide
© 2020 TeleSign 18

19. Thank You!
13274 Fiji Way #600, Marina
Del Rey, CA 90292 (800) 850-3485 contact@telesign.com www.telesign.com