Reducing Mexican Roaming Fraud

Fair Isaac Corp. says that Mexican wireless operator Unefon selected it's RoamEx roamer data exchanger. RoamEx will help Unefon grant roaming privileges to more customers, increase service levels and minimize fraud risk and losses.

Wireless roaming fraud occurs when a subscriber who does not intend to pay moves from the home operator network to another operator network and runs up charges until the credit limit is reached. RoamEx sends completed voice, message and data call records from the serving operator to the home operator, offering wider visibility of calls while Unefon's subscribers are roaming. Roaming data delivered via RoamEx will reach the home operator within seconds of its arrival on the RoamEx network, allowing Unefon to recognize and respond almost immediately to a potential fraud threat.

Mobile phone services in Mexico have maintained a constant growth in the last several years, reaching 30 million users nationwide. Unefon offers mobile communications services to nearly two million customers in 20 urban centers of Mexico.

"Fair Isaac's RoamEx solution will help us achieve our goal of offering consumers an affordable alternative to using other operators," said Omar Flores Carrillo, Roaming Director at Unefon. "As demand from the middle-income population in Mexico for wireless services grows, we will be well positioned to provide subscribers with a wide array of roaming options and the best quality service at competitive prices, while increasing revenues by better controlling risk."

Fair Isaac's RoamEx currently handles 95 percent of all roaming call records for the wireless industry in the U.S., Canada and Mexico and covers major markets in the Caribbean and South America. It also has been deployed in Asia and Africa.

"As global communication becomes increasingly efficient, fraudsters continue to migrate from committing fraud on the home network to using roaming networks where it is harder to detect," said Robert Duque-Ribeiro, vice president of International Sales at Fair Isaac. "RoamEx is a proven industry partner and has become an integral part of high-performing, reliable fraud defenses for more than 75 wireless operators worldwide. The system offers a cost-effective and efficient solution that helps Unefon provide its customers with the best value in the Mexican wireless market."

Posted to the site on 25th October 2004