Badea noted that the phone number has become the defacto identifier in a mobile-first world, and is the one constant that cuts across all the various malicious fraud techniques. That makes the ability to vet and verify phone number accuracy in real time a pivotal component of fraud-fighting tools.

Yet with billions of phone numbers and a myriad of interactions happening daily, the ability to successfully manage the connection journey remains complex. “Fortunately, the industry has developed and continues to develop innovative tools that combat fraud at various points in the connection journey,” Badea said, noting one of the newest ecosystem registries focuses on the financial services industry, a key sector increasingly hit by fraud.

Buttressing the Financial Sector – The Fraud Prevention Registry

If money is the root of all evil, as the adage goes, nowhere is that more apparent than in communications fraud targeting the financial sector. Whether it be through illegal robocalling, robotexting, SIM swapping or a variety of other scams, the main goal of fraudsters is to take money from innocent victims through deceptive means. In fact, a new report shows scammers siphoned off over $1.03 trillion from consumers globally in 2024, according to a study from the Global Anti-Scam Alliance. Phone calls and text messages remain the most popular method of initial contact.

Badea said the newest innovation for the finance sector and beyond is the Fraud Prevention Registry (FPR), which combats one of today’s most critical challenges: developing and maintaining a centralized fraud number database that can be updated and accessed in real time by those who need it most.

Launched in North America and expanding globally, the FPR operates as a global, consortium-based registry and contains millions of phone numbers from active attacks. It also provides actionable data about victims’ phone numbers when they are exposed during phishing attacks or breaches and observed on threat actor target lists.”

This groundbreaking solution, developed by netnumber, facilitates the rapid exchange of fraud data among industry stakeholders, including communication service providers, telecom carriers and enterprises.

Once a fraud attack is identified by one of the FPR participating members, all other members can react quickly and prevent the attack from spreading further.

Near-instantaneous data distribution is a key attribute of the FPR, as high-volume real-time data is critical for fraud data sharing because fraud is typically very volatile. For example, fraudsters rotate through phone numbers in a matter of minutes to avoid detection.

Launched in North America and expanding globally, the FPR operates as a global, consortium-based registry and contains millions of phone numbers from active attacks. It also provides actionable data about victims’ phone numbers when they are exposed during phishing attacks or breaches and observed on threat actor target lists.

The nnSR® – A Longtime Industry Mainstay That Combats Messaging Fraud

Text messaging has become one of the most popular forms of communication today, with industry estimates pointing to over 2 trillion text messages sent annually. In North America, a single industry registry provides the pivotal information essential for text messaging to proceed.

Launched in 2008, the netnumber Service Registry® (nnSR) is the respected industry database that underlies this critical communications channel. The nnSR® collects, manages and distributes authoritative routing information for the telecom messaging industry in North America. Not only does this tool underlie North American text messaging, but it also plays a crucial role in combating fraud, particularly message spoofing.

In text spoofing, fraudsters hijack phone numbers in an attempt to trick consumers into thinking they are receiving texts from a legitimate source, such as a bank. Using this approach, bad actors seek to steal money or key account information from unsuspecting consumers.

The nnSR® helps carriers and other North American mobile telecom participants outwit texting fraudsters through its required sender ID registration process. By registering APIs with nnSR®, carriers can access real-time number validation and verification information that serves as a powerful tool for ensuring accurate message routing, along with fighting spoofing and other texting fraud.

The nnSR is highly regarded throughout the world and is being used as a model for other countries currently working to implement sender registries, added Badea.

Find out more about the netnumber Services Registry