Fraud Prevention

While Midco implements certain fraud prevention measures, you are responsible to protect yourself. Learn more about the types of telecommunications fraud and how to protect your business.

Our primary focus is making sure the Midco network is protected from malicious activity that would impact our ability to deliver reliable services to you, as well as the overall health of our network.

DDoS Attacks

What is a DDoS attack?

When a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack occurs, a malicious third party attempts to make an online service unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic from multiple sources.

How does Midco protect you?

Midco takes thorough measures to keep our network secure by mitigating potential DDoS threats as early as possible. This protection transfers to our customers, providing a free basic level of defense to businesses using our internet. We also have elevated levels of protection available to our dedicated fiber internet customers.

However, we recommend that your business also have its own security measures in place to keep your information safe.

Website and Domain Warnings
If we learn about fraudulent activity associated with a particular website or domain, we add that site to our warning list. If your business uses Midco domain name service (DNS) services and your online users attempt to visit a website or domain in question, a warning page from Midco displays information about a possible threat. The online user chooses whether to continue to the website or not. If your business uses another DNS provider (such as your own in-house DNS), this warning is not available.

Spam and Phishing Emails
Midco filters out recognizable spam and phishing emails sent to customers who use our Midco email (name@midco.net or name@xyz.midco.net and so forth). We are not able to offer protection for any questionable emails that get through to your email account.

International Calls
We monitor destinations for international calls to determine if there are trends in suspicious activity. If we notice concerns that could impact your business, we will contact you to make you aware of the situation.

Customer Information Changes
We take extra measures to make sure only you are changing details about your account with Midco and about your Midco services.

• We never reveal the personal identity of our customers to a third party unless we have a valid court order requiring us to do so.
• We never allow changes on a customer account without first using approved methods to verify customer identity.
• Annually, we provide our customers with information and resources they can use to better protect themselves.

Technology advancements are great for everyday users, but they also make it easier for fraudsters to target and take advantage of consumers and businesses. Malicious attempts to infiltrate companies are becoming more sophisticated every day.

As such, fraud management is no longer about running defense or reacting to something after it has happened. Taking that approach could ruin your business. Instead, businesses of all sizes must proactively take steps to fight fraud and try to prevent it.

According to the Communications Fraud Control Association (CFCA), “Communications fraud is the use of telecommunications products or services with no intention of payment. Fraud negatively impacts everyone, including residential and commercial customers. Fraud losses increase communications carriers’ operating costs. Although many operators have increased measures to minimize fraud and reduce their losses, criminals continue to abuse communications networks and services.”

Communications fraud also includes the use of a telecommunication service to commit other forms of fraud. Each day, fraudsters use telecom channels, such as the phone or Internet, as they try to steal sensitive data they can use to reveal company secrets, commit identify theft, drain bank accounts and more. Sometimes, nobody knows the fraudsters have struck until the damage is done.

In its most recent global survey, the Communications Fraud Control Association (CFCA) found that worldwide communications fraud loss topped $46.3 billion in 2013 – which is a 15% increase in losses from the previous survey in 2011.

It’s important that businesses large and small remain vigilant about protecting themselves from a myriad of hackers around the world who regularly use the Internet and phone systems to pinpoint companies with weak systems and a lack of defense mechanisms. They search for network vulnerabilities and billing systems to maliciously gain access to data. Many times, properly implemented procedures can secured data and keep it from being compromised.