Telecom
Clear and Present Danger of Account Takeover Fraud
Roberto Valerio, founder of RISK IDENT, Europe’s leading provider of new intelligent anti-fraud software has alerted telecom firms to the nature of fraud in telecommunications industry.
Valerio, touted as one of the foremost experts on the rise of AI in combating fraud, said that the telecommunications sector is one of the hardest hit industries by the account takeover fraud sweeping the globe.
In account takeover fraud, criminals harvest credentials from data breaches and then test them on every website and mobile app imaginable.
A small subset of those credentials unlocks accounts because most consumers reuse passwords across multiple sites.
Criminals then tap those for different types of fraud from unauthorized bank transfers to illicit purchases.
Valerio, said that fraudsters are leaning heavily on telcoms for illegal gains, and both the companies and their customers are feeling the shock.
He said “but why is this industry such an attractive target, and what can telcoms bosses do to lessen the damage? Identity theft has reached what experts call “epidemic levels,” largely in part to the sharp increase of data breaches happening around the globe.
The U.S. credit bureau Equifax suffered a breach of its network security system last September, which compromised the personal info of 143 million consumers around the world.
And this came hot on the heels of 1,800 other security breaches that exposed 1.4 billion data records in just 2016 alone . That same year, the UK telecommunications company TalkTalk was fined £400,000 for a cyber attack that allowed for the personal details of 150,000 customers to be stolen by hackers.
While data breaches are scary in their own right, the real nightmare is what criminals do with customer information once they’ve stolen it.
“Fraudsters use this illegally obtained info to create new accounts online and, even more damaging, use it to hijack existing accounts. The latter allows for criminals to hide behind the names and account history of good customers to somewhat easily make fraudulent purchases.
Why mobile telecoms are so vulnerable to ATO
Cifas reports that the identity fraud rate in the mobile telecoms sphere rose 60% in 2017 . And the reason the mobile telecoms industry has taken such a beating is based on the industry’s standard business model.
Fraudsters are particularly attracted to the phone contract model used in Europe, where customers immediately receive a high-value device that they eventually pay off monthly.
This system has lured in fraudsters, who’ve found that it’s relatively easy to use a victim’s stolen account details to access his or her account, collect the expensive phone, immediately sell off the device, and leave the victim with the bill and whatever other fallout that occurs.
Contract extensions are another door that fraudsters have weaseled through as they continue to target the telecommunications industry. As a way to reduce customer friction, many mobile service providers have eliminated complex re-sign processes. Though this presents convenience and ease to legitimate customers, it also presents a lucrative opportunity for hungry criminals.
Fraudsters have realized that they can use stolen data to hijack existing accounts and change a victim’s account details to ensure that the brand new device that comes along with an automatic extension is delivered to an address that they can access. This type of fraud is popular, so much so that there’s even a pricing scale for mobile contract account details on the Dark Web; the closer an account is to a renewal date, the more sellers can demand for the account information, as a big payoff is right around the corner.
Unfortunately, telecom firms don’t just experience outside threats. RISK IDENT’s fraud experts have found that it’s becoming more and more common for account takeover fraud to actually happen from within, carried out by telecommunications employees. In such cases, firms’ employees use their administrative access to take over customer accounts, create a bogus contract renewal and collect the phone for themselves. In some cases, resellers and company partners also have the ability to create fake renewals in customer accounts, which is helping drive the high ATO rates in the telecom industry.
What telecoms firms can do to lessen identity theft threats
The only surefire way to stop the flood of fraudsters who’ve targeted the telecommunications industry is to close the gaps presented by the mobile phone contract model. This entails predicting where customers may be most vulnerable to fraud and keeping that in mind when constructing a telecom firm’s fraud prevention strategy.
Over the past five years, RISK IDENT has identified several account and transaction characteristics that can assist telecoms firms in detecting account takeover fraud. These include:
Recent account changes: Nearly all confirmed cases of ATO fraud came with a password, address or e-mail address change within 10 days prior to the transaction.
Expensive purchases: The average order value in account takeover cases is four times higher than other orders. For example, fraudulent orders often include a request for a much more expensive device than the victim’s previous phone.
Customer age: Due to having significantly less technical expertise, older customers are much more likely to be victims of identity theft and account takeovers.
Paying attention to warning signs like these and incorporating systems that further predict account takeover vulnerability have the power to significantly reduce ATO fraud in the telecommunications industry. After all, the harder a companymakes it for criminals to commit fraud, the less likely it will be targeted.
To find out more about how RISK IDENT’s fraud prevention solutions reduce identity theft and ATO in the telecommunications industry, visit: https://riskident.com/en/.
Telecom
NCC Retains Rudman as Chair of Newly Inaugurated IPv6 Council Board, Urges Advancement of Nigeria’s Digital Migration
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has officially inaugurated the new board of the Nigerian Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) Council in Ikeja, Lagos. Mr. Muhammed Rudman, Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), will continue to serve as Chairman.
This inauguration marks a significant milestone for Nigeria’s telecommunications sector, as global demand for IPv4 now exceeds the available IPv4 address space.
Following the event, Rudman acknowledged the contributions of former board members, including Olusola Teniola (former President, ATCON), Funke Opeke (Founder, MainOne), Mary Uduma (former President, NiRA), and Lanre Ajayi (past President, ATCON), emphasizing that their involvement was instrumental in establishing the nation’s foundational IPv6 migration efforts.
Rudman noted that membership in the IPv6 Council is institution-based. The reconstituted board includes Mr. Muhammed Rudman as Chairman and a representative from the NCC as Co-Chairman. Institutional representatives from NITDA, ATCON, NIRA, ALTON, ISPON, and NgREN serve as board members, with Dr. Chris Uwaje and Prof. Latif Ladid acting as Advisers. This group is responsible for leading the nationwide migration from IPv4 to IPv6.
“The transition to IPv6 is a strategic national priority. It is essential for enabling Nigeria’s digital transformation, economic growth, and global competitiveness. The council’s strategy identifies IPv6 as a primary catalyst for national development, focusing on three pillars: supporting emerging technologies such as 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT), promoting economic diversification, and providing enhanced security and performance compared to legacy solutions such as Network Address Translation (NAT),” Rudman stated.
To achieve these objectives, the council’s action plan is structured around two primary initiatives: awareness-raising and capacity-building. The board will prioritize promoting national awareness of IPv6 through targeted events and workshops, while also providing IPv6 training to network engineers across various operators, including ISPs, telecommunications companies, educational institutions, and financial organizations. These efforts are expected to facilitate the acquisition and deployment of IPv6 throughout Nigerian networks.
The council will develop and oversee the national IPv6 strategy, monitor adoption across sectors, and report regularly to the Federal Government. Additionally, the council will identify technical challenges, strengthen local engineering capacity, and recommend regulatory measures to encourage ISPs, telecommunications operators, academic institutions, and enterprises to upgrade.
With the Nigeria IPv6 Council now operational, local enterprises and network providers are required to upgrade their systems to sustain the nation’s position in the global digital landscape.
Leading telecommunications, technology, and internet governance stakeholders have thrown their weight behind the 16th milestone edition of the annual Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum (NDSF) on Internet Governance for Development (IG4D), scheduled to hold on Thursday, June 11, 2026, at the Welcome Centre Hotels, Ikeja-Lagos.
The high-profile convergence, organized by pioneer tech-media firm ITREALMS Media and hosted by DigitalSENSE Africa (DSA); an ICANN-certified At-Large Structure, will center its discourse on the national theme: “Sustaining WSIS Vision with Multistakeholder Synergy in Nigeria.”
Confirming their corporate backing and institutional participation are industry giants including ICT infrastructure leader MTN Nigeria; the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON); premier software and DNS infrastructure firm Upperlink Limited; and the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA).
Speaking on the preparations, the Lead Convener of NDSF and Group Executive Editor of ITREALMS Media Group, Ogbuefi Remmy Nweke, KSM, stated that the 2026 forum marks a crucial trajectory in examining how local multi-stakeholder synergy can sustain the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) frameworks to accelerate Nigeria’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) and domain economy.
“We are delighted to have the robust support of critical ecosystem drivers like MTN, ALTON, Upperlink, and NiRA. Their participation underscores the vital importance of multi-stakeholder dialogue in addressing contemporary policy, infrastructure growth, digital rights, and the transition into more advanced, secure digital spaces,” Nweke said.
A major highlight of this year’s forum will be that it will hold under the distinguished chairmanship of industry veteran, Dr. Olusola Teniola (hon), as approved by the Board of Directorate and the Central Committee. Under his chairmanship, the forum will also feature the presentation of the prestigious DigitalSENSE Africa 2026 awards to distinguished players in the ecosystem and corporate technology landscape across the continent.
The forum’s comprehensive agenda will feature high-level plenaries and technical sessions led by seasoned industry experts. Key areas of discourse will cut across the role of regulatory organs in the digital economy, bridging innovation gaps, leveraging Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for SME growth, digital rights, and data protection.
The organizers have invited additional internet stakeholders, including civil society organizations (CSOs), academia, young innovators, women in tech, and industry professionals, to maximize the networking and advocacy windows presented by this 16th edition.
With corporate sponsorship tiers spanning Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze partnerships now actively filling up, corporate brand materials and production collaterals are expected to reach the NDSF secretariat on or before Thursday, June 4, 2026, to guarantee technical alignment.
Olusola Teniola, ipNX Director has been named to the newly inaugurated IPv6 Council Board by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), as part of a broader industry effort to accelerate Nigeria’s transition to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).
The inauguration, which took place in Ikeja, Lagos, underscores the Commission’s renewed commitment to accelerating Nigeria’s transition to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), a critical enabler of the country’s digital future.
Mr. Teniola joins a distinguished group of industry leaders, including Funke Opeke, Muhammed Rudman (Chairman), Chris Uwaje (Vice Chairman), Mary Uduma, Gbenga Adebayo, Lanre Ajayi, and Latif Ladid, alongside representatives from key regulatory and government institutions.
Speaking on his appointment, Teniola expressed appreciation to the NCC for the opportunity to serve and reiterated the importance of collaborative action in driving Nigeria’s digital transformation.
“The transition to IPv6 is no longer a future consideration; it is an immediate priority for Nigeria’s digital economy. As data consumption grows and emerging technologies such as 5G, IoT, and AI become more pervasive, we must ensure that our underlying infrastructure is scalable, secure, and globally competitive,” he said.
He further emphasized that achieving meaningful IPv6 adoption will require strong alignment across stakeholders, including telecom operators, internet service providers, enterprises, academia, and government.
“This is a collective responsibility. We must invest in capacity building, drive awareness, and create the right policy and regulatory environment to accelerate adoption. Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind in an increasingly connected world.”
The IPv6 Council Board has been tasked with developing and overseeing the implementation of a national IPv6 strategy, monitoring progress, and providing periodic updates on adoption levels across the country. The Council will also play a key role in addressing infrastructure challenges, strengthening technical expertise, and recommending policy incentives to support nationwide deployment.
Teniola’s appointment reflects ipNX’s continued commitment to shaping Nigeria’s digital ecosystem and advancing the development of resilient, future-ready network infrastructure across the country.
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