Transaction Network Services (TNS) has unveiled Neighbor Spoofing feature on its Call Guardian app to enable carriers to protect their subscribers from the increasingly popular neighbor spoofing robocall tactic.
TNS' Call Guardian app identifies and blocks spam, protecting users from unwanted callers. TNS claims that the robocall detection solution is used by leading US wireless service providers as well as US landline providers.
With neighbor spoofing, no matter where the call originates, the information on the receiver’s phone matches or closely matches the area code and a number of digits from his or her own phone number – which makes the consumer more likely to trust the call and pick up. TNS’ neighbor spoofing feature analyzes 1 billion call events per day across over 500 telecom operators to detect and establish a reputation for phone numbers and phone calls to help consumers evaluate if a phone call with a familiar area code is legitimate.
The FTC received 4.5 million robocall complaints in 2017, up from 3.4 million the prior year. Robocall bad actors continue to adjust their strategy to elude detection, and Neighbor Spoofing has emerged as a top tactic. While some Over-The-Top (OTT) robocall blocking apps claim to address neighbor spoofing, the effectiveness of these apps is severely limited by lack of real-time visibility into telecom network call activity and call origination.
When a call comes through, TNS Call Guardian is able to determine whether the number is invalid, unallocated, or unassigned, including toll free numbers. If the number is not valid, TNS Call Guardian is then able to alert the user on the receiving line that they should not answer. If it is a valid number, then another level of analysis is performed.
Bill Versen, Chief Product Officer, TNS
In early 2017, TNS started to see a sizable increase in the use of neighbor spoofing as a way for bad actors to evade measures put in place to detect traditional call spoofing.
