Roaming fraud can take many forms. It can occur when a subscriber moves from their home public network to a visited network and uses services with no intention of paying for them. Additionally, roaming fraud can be carried out by fraudsters who trick operators into thinking the individual is roaming when they have not moved from their original location. Blockchain is a key player in preventing fraud and securing user identities in order to support next-generation network services and IoT solutions, driving the market significantly in turn. Roaming Fraud Mitigation

Juniper Research defines roaming fraud as: ‘Roaming fraud is one of the leading causes for operator revenue losses in the telecommunications industry. With the growing complexities in technologies, fraudsters have more opportunities to deploy their attacks. Therefore, operators must adopt strategies to mitigate against such fraud to protect their revenue streams and reputation.’

Juniper Research found that the growth in fraudulent data roaming traffic will reach 218 PB by 2028, driven by the evolution of sophisticated fraudulent tactics such as SIM card swapping.

Study Outlines Key Strategies for Mitigating Roaming Fraud

Global outbound roaming data will grow from 230,000 PB in 2023 to over 2.2 million PB by 2028, driven by the rise of data-intensive 5G roaming connections. However, this growth in roaming traffic will lead to increased opportunities for fraudsters, such as SIM box fraud, in which data is allocated through local routes rather than monetizable roaming channels.

Types of Roaming Fraud

Due to the complexities involved in roaming services as well as vulnerabilities within the system, with fraudulent attacks going undetected or unresolved, there are numerous ways in which fraudsters can deploy such attacks. These types of roaming fraud typically take place over voice, SMS, IoT, and data roaming.
SIM card swapping: In some cases, fraudsters may target travellers by offering their assistance with local SIM cards or network issues. However, in doing so, the fraudster can gain access to the victim’s SIM card and use it for unauthorized activities, such as utilizing data and deploying voice calls at high-charge locations, causing financial losses to the legitimate subscriber.

SIM card swapping

In some cases, fraudsters may target travellers by offering their assistance with local SIM cards or network issues. However, in doing so, the fraudster can gain access to the victim’s SIM card and use it for unauthorized activities,
such as utilizing data and deploying voice calls at high-charge locations, causing financial losses to the legitimate subscriber.

Risks Posed by Increasing Network Complexity
As networks increase in complexity with the roll-out of more advanced generations, such as 5G and VoLTE (Voice over LTE) influencing the number of roaming subscribers, operators must protect their networks against the influx of demand
through AI-based and real-time fraud management analytics. Given the increased complexity of 5G networks, the subsequent existing strategies to combat and detect fraudsters using roaming analytics will be insufficient in effectively monitoring the increasing roaming traffic.
a) 5G and VoLTE
5G and VoLTE roaming pose the greatest threat to mobile operators globally in terms of roaming fraud management. VoLTE is the provision of mobile voice services via 4G technologies, in line with the replacement of traditional services such as 2G and 3G. The deployment of 5G and VoLTE is increasingly necessary to fully replace legacy networks.
The limitations owing to the implementation of VoLTE roaming include regulatory concerns, financial implications, and network upgrading issues. Furthermore, the lower number of VoLTE roaming agreements between operators influences the slower implementation of the technology. With this, operators are less inclined to adopt and deploy the new technology; owing to concerns over existing voice revenue disruption, thus opting to extend existing legacy network agreements.

b) Competition
Competition in the market also adds pressure on operators to invest in and provide advanced digital solutions. However, with small margins for the complexities and competition, the profit of CSPs (Communication Service Providers) is vulnerable, with fraud at the forefront of this risk. The presence of dynamic competition amongst mobile operators is vital in the goal of offering more reliable and economical models for subscribers.

c) COVID-19 & Travel Recovery
The COVID-19 pandemic witnessed operator roaming revenue sabotaged with the associated travel restrictions. This, paired with the introduction of the RLAH policy, limits operators’ ability to generate further roaming revenue. The RLAH policy provides more opportunities for subscribers in the EU to roam abroad without incurring excessive roaming fees. RLAH is the attempt by countries in the EU to increase the number of active roamers post-pandemic by offering competitively priced roaming packages. Whilst this increases the number of roamers across operator networks, it also increases susceptibility to fraudulent roaming attacks.
Furthermore, the delivery of roaming services represents significant risks for subscribers and operators, due to the possibility of roaming-related fraudulent activities. This can be attributable to the call information being provided by a
visited operator to a home operator; causing a delay in the time it takes to analyze and detect fraud.

Juniper Research also interviewed leading roaming vendors, who agreed that bilateral 5G roaming agreements are necessary to detect these fraudulent connections. These agreements will enable operators to maximize future roaming revenue in a market anticipated to generate $8 billion globally by 2028.

How Blockchain Can Influence Roaming Fraud Mitigation?

Blockchain is a public, distributed digital ledger that can be utilized to record transactions across multiple devices. The development of blockchain technology over the previous decade has the potential to disrupt various industries, in particular within the telecom industry for the provision of security for tackling roaming fraud.
Furthermore, by using smart contracts on blockchain, it is possible to reduce and eliminate intermediaries meaning that roaming fraud can be reduced. Technology from blockchain can optimize ID management, in turn providing more accurate location data.
Therefore, blockchain has the potential to reduce roaming fraud and improve ID management by automating processes. The shared ledger aspect of blockchain technology can store identity transactions to create a digital identity, in
which the CSP can add a digital signature to to use its private key.

The new study evaluated roaming fraud across many key channels, including voice, SMS, consumer, and IoT devices, across 60 countries. The research also includes:

• 5-year Forecasts: Data and forecasts for outbound roaming subscribers, roaming traffic, and operator losses to roaming fraud.
• Country-readiness Index: A comprehensive evaluation of the readiness of 60 countries to combat emerging fraud techniques and adoption of roaming fraud mitigation solutions.
• Competitor Leaderboard: 14 leading roaming fraud mitigation vendors are assessed scoring each vendor on criteria such as fraud mitigation capabilities, market presence, and completeness of platforms.

The Research Suite

The new research suite offers the most comprehensive assessment of the roaming fraud market to date, including market analysis and in-depth forecasts for 60 countries. The dataset contains over 13,000 market statistics within five years. It includes a ‘Competitor Leaderboard’ and an examination of current and future market opportunities.

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