NICE Systems has launched a new technology solution to track fraud patterns and screen phone interactions for deception.

The solution, named Contact Center Fraud Prevention, combines NICE Actimize’s  expertise in fraud with NICE’s experience in the contact center. It can be deployed as a standalone contact center solution or as part of the NICE Actimize enterprise fraud offering.

Organizations can use the system to potentially reduce fraud-related losses without creating service hurdles or compromising the customer experience. The company says these benefits can be realized because the system incorporates a multi-layered approach, which includes non-intrusive voice biometrics technology, speech and transactional analytics, and real-time capabilities.

According to Aite Group, fraud in the contact center is increasing. While many businesses have recognized the need to protect customer data and secure online transactions, the phone channel has now become a target for fraudsters. Given the fact that Datamonitor estimates 20 percent of victims will leave the institution where the fraud occurred, this crime is extremely detrimental to the customer relationship.

How Fraudsters Operate

Fraudsters often use social engineering by leveraging information available on social networks, enabling them to manipulate and trick customer service agents who continue to verify caller identity through traditional means.

“Social media represents a goldmine for fraudsters,” explains Donna Fluss, president of DMG Consulting LLC. “Almost every person has a digital footprint, which can be mined for nefarious purposes. Every public and private organization needs to equip their [call center] agents and employees with tools and best practices to prevent losses.

“Even though preventing fraud losses and protecting clients’ personal information are essential goals for enterprises and their call centers, unfortunately most agents do not have the tools to identify fraudsters, which in turn puts [both] the enterprise and customers at risk,” she adds.

“High Risk” Interactions

NICE’s Contact Center Fraud Prevention offering is designed to enable businesses to pinpoint fraudulent callers according to a unique voice print by using voice biometrics to automatically cross-reference each call with a suspicious watch list of known fraudsters. The solution also implements NICE Interaction Analytics to identify fraud patterns and social engineering attempts based on speech analytics, emotion detection, talk patterns, and interactions. A caller who shouts at the call center agent or tries to change the account address could raise a “red flag” and potentially indicate a fraudulent behavior pattern, for example.

Telephony and other contextual data, such as IVR events, caller location and ANI matching, also known as caller ID, are examined to identify fraud. The NICE solution can then guide the agents in real-time to appropriately handle high-risk interactions, and provides an end-to-end fraud management solution that prioritizes high-risk interactions for investigation before transactions are authorized.

The solution also incorporates the NICE Actimize Risk Case Manager. This is an investigation and workflow tool with which agents can open an investigation ticket following identification of a fraud attempt, including playback of suspicious interactions.

NICE says that by focusing on high-risk interactions, companies can channel their resources more efficiently, thereby reducing their operating costs and cutting their fraud losses. Furthermore, companies can offer better service to legitimate customers by streamlining operations for safe interactions without compromising their early fraud detection and proactive contact with customers.  

“The [call] center is a prime target for fraudsters and enterprises must be prepared to ensure that this area of their business is as well protected as online transactions,” says Yochai Rozenblat, president of the NICE Enterprise Group. “By leveraging our contact center best practices with our fraud prevention practice, we created an end-to-end solution that offers proactive fraud detection, real-time guidance, and integrated fraud case management. We believe that [the] technology will help businesses boost their reputations, protect their customer base, and significantly reduce fraud losses.”

To learn more about NICE’s Contact Center Fraud Prevention solution, watch this video clip.