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/.
News
NITDA Communications Director Hadiza Umar Named in 2026 PR Power List, Graces Glazia Magazine Cover
Mrs. Hadiza Umar, Director of the Corporate Communications and Media Relations Department at the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has been officially recognised as one of Nigeria’s top public relations professionals in the prestigious 2026 PR Power List.
The definitive annual list, compiled by GLG Communications in partnership with The Guardian, was unveiled to commemorate World PR Day.
It celebrates 50 outstanding professionals within Nigeria and the diaspora whose strategic communication strategies have significantly shaped organisations, influenced public discourse, and advanced the profession over the past 12 months.
Adding to the momentous milestone, Mrs. Umar was hit with a major surprise at the exclusive PR Power List Soirée and Awards ceremony held at the Alliance Française in Ikoyi, Lagos, where she was unveiled as a front-cover personality for the Glazia Magazine PR Power List Special Issue.
The double recognition highlights her exceptional distinction and impact in public sector communications and narrative management.
Speaking on the dual achievement, Mrs. Umar expressed profound gratitude for the honours, describing the magazine cover appearance as a breathtaking surprise.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to be recognized on the 2026 PR Power List and to feature on the cover of Glazia Magazine alongside other exceptional industry titans,” Umar said.
“This milestone is a testament to the enabling environment and visionary leadership of the Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, which has allowed us to strategically drive the narrative of Nigeria’s digital economy and technological innovation.”
Mrs. Umar, a highly respected corporate communications strategist, holds professional fellowships in the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (Chartered), the African Public Relations Association (APRA), and the Institute of Corporate Administration (CICA).
Under her supervisory role, NITDA’s media relations have consistently projected national information technology frameworks, start-up support frameworks, and digital literacy initiatives, to position Nigeria competitively on the global stage.
The 2026 PR Power List selection process involved a rigorous, independent evaluation led by a distinguished international jury.
The organisers noted that the class of 2026 represents professionals raising the standard of strategic communications and introducing new ideas to the industry.
The need for Nigeria to think outside the box in its need to drive towards global relevance with innovations and scientific developments will be on the front burner at the NITRA Innovative & Scientific Conference scheduled to hold on Thursday July 23, 2026 in Ikeja, Lagos.
NITRA
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will lead other delegates to discuss and take far-reaching decisions at the event, which has its theme as “Bridging Nigeria’s Digital Divide With Scientific Innovation”.
Other companies that have indicated interest in partnering with NITRA include mobile communications company, Tecno; Africa’s premier end-to-end AI solutions company, Hyperspace; and telecommunications data infrastructure company, Digital Realty.
Speaking on the proposed event, the Chairman, Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA), Chike Onwuegbuchi noted that the event will seek to create a platform for government and private organisations to deliberate on policies around scientific innovations in Nigeria, challenges, place of indigenous and foreign collaboration, roles of each stakeholder, and grassroots development in that regard, among others.
According to him: “The Federal government, with series of programmes and partnerships, has established the urgent need to create an ecosystem that thrives on scientific innovation, breeding institutions and individuals with a target of placing the country at the fore-front of Next-Gen development.
It is a known fact that digital and scientific innovations are crucial, not only to the survivability of a nation, but also to the sustainability of its growth and development, with significant effect on economic strength, global image, defense and security, government capabilities to function, and public health and safety, communication and digital footprint, among others.
The federal government is actively driving scientific innovation to foster economic diversification and build a $1 trillion economy by 2030. Efforts are heavily focused on commercializing research, establishing massive research funds, and funding strategic infrastructure, particularly in technology, biotechnology, and healthcare. Core government initiatives and policies include the newly instituted National Research and Innovation Development Fund (NRIDF), which aims to mobilize about $500 million annually to support research and the commercialization of scientific outputs; and the Nigeria Genomic City, a multi-ministerial initiative aimed at transforming Nigeria into a leading hub for genomics, precision medicine, and biotechnology. It is designed to protect indigenous data, stimulate artificial intelligence in health, and develop a highly skilled scientific workforce.
According to the General Secretary of NITRA, Mr. Chidiebere Nwankwo, the forum will also be a vehicle to propagating the views of decision makers to the public, thereby furthering the cause of public awareness and information dissemination on the topic.
The focus, he said will be on how Nigeria can sustain digital innovative growth and scientific development in Nigeria
The board of global payments company, PayPal, says a 53 billion dollars takeover offer from financial technology firm, Stripe, and private equity company, Advent International, does not adequately reflect the company’s long-term value.
PayPal
According to reports, the proposed acquisition, valued at 60.50 dollars per share, remains under consideration, with the board yet to formally respond to the offer.
The directors are said to be evaluating not only the financial value of the proposal but also the structure of the financing, the timeline for completing the transaction and the likelihood of obtaining regulatory approvals.
They are also considering the possibility of competing bids emerging.
Although the offer represents a premium of about 28 per cent above PayPal’s recent share price, the board believes the company could deliver greater value to shareholders if its ongoing turnaround strategy succeeds.
Following reports of the bid, PayPal shares gained about two per cent to close at 56.73 dollars.
Sources familiar with the discussions said Stripe and Advent have secured approximately 50 billion dollars in debt financing from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, while both firms would jointly contribute 17 billion dollars in equity.
Under the proposal, the two companies would jointly own PayPal instead of dividing its operations.
PayPal, Stripe, Advent International, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have all declined to comment on the proposed transaction.
The discussions come as PayPal seeks to strengthen its business after years of increasing competition from rivals including Apple Pay, Google Pay and emerging financial technology firms.
The company, which was valued at about 360 billion dollars in 2021, now has a market capitalisation of approximately 36 billion dollars.
Since assuming office as Chief Executive Officer in March 2026, Enrique Lores has embarked on a restructuring programme aimed at improving operational efficiency and restoring growth.
The restructuring includes the creation of three business divisions comprising Checkout, Venmo and Consumer Financial Services, and Payments and Crypto.
The company is also targeting 1.5 billion dollars in cost savings through the deployment of artificial intelligence technologies.
PayPal’s latest financial results indicated signs of recovery, with first-quarter revenue rising seven per cent year-on-year to 8.35 billion dollars, while total payment volume increased by eight per cent to 464 billion dollars.
If approved, the transaction would combine two of the world’s largest digital payments companies.
The combined business would process an estimated 3.7 trillion dollars in annual payment volume, significantly strengthening its position in the global online payments market.
However, analysts expect the proposed acquisition to face intense regulatory scrutiny because of the companies’ combined market share in merchant payment services.
To address possible antitrust concerns, the bidders have reportedly considered options, including separating PayPal’s Braintree business or other assets if required by regulators.
Sources said Stripe and Advent remain interested in pursuing the acquisition despite the board’s reservations, although negotiations are expected to continue.
Market observers are also awaiting PayPal’s earnings report scheduled for July 28 for further indications of the company’s financial recovery and future growth prospects.
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