More than 10,000 fraudulent calls per year Introducing methods of phishing scams and KDDI/au countermeasure services

A special fraud that robs an unspecified number of people of cash and goods through telephone or face-to-face, and has become a social problem. Criminal groups are becoming more sophisticated every day in line with events of high social interest and current affairs news, such as "It's me" frauds and tax refund frauds.

We spoke with Tobira Systems, which is working to solve problems with nuisance calls and security, and KDDI's cable video phone service staff about the recent outbreaks, methods, and countermeasures.

First, let's take a look at the data on how many cases are declared in Japan. According to a survey by the National Police Agency, there were 13,550 known cases of special fraud in 2020, and the amount of damage was 28.5 billion yen.

Looking at the blue bar graph showing the amount of damage, it peaked in 2014 and has been declining year by year due to fraud countermeasures such as restrictions on ATM transfer limits and prevention of 'It's me' fraud. As shown in the graph, the number of cases recognized is still in a situation that cannot be said to be on the decline. Given that this is the case with only the number of confirmed cases that have come to light, including hidden crimes that have not been reported, it can be said that the damage caused by special fraud is still prevalent.

One of the reasons why the damage does not decrease is that the methods of criminal groups are becoming more sophisticated every day. There is no end to the number of people who inadvertently fall victim to scams because they change their talks and tactics according to events of high social interest and current affairs news. In recent years, there has been an increase in new types of fraud, such as "You can get a corona benefit" or "You have the right to be given priority for vaccination" by cleverly approaching and defrauding people of cash.

As far as Tobira Systems is aware, there are "about 18 million nuisance calls per year", and 22% of calls to landlines, or about 1 in 5 calls, are blocked. From the data, it can be read that fixed-line phones are easy targets for fraud groups because they fall under the category of nuisance calls.

It is presumed that this is aimed at elderly people and their families who are alone during the day, but there is also the fact that landlines are often used to confirm that they are home before committing fraud. , the most recent issue is how to avoid connecting the phone, which is the source of fraud.

Looking at the breakdown of these nuisance calls, 66%, or two-thirds, are calls that are said to be malicious sales or solicitations, and malicious remodeling companies and recycled purchasers call with aggressive sales techniques and various solicitations. It can be seen that the Even if such calls are not against the law, they can easily lead to consumer troubles, and Tobira Systems positions such calls as "gray zone crimes" and blocks them thoroughly.

So how do you block these calls? The key to blocking nuisance calls is called the nuisance information database, and it is a mechanism that allows you to reject nuisance calls if you receive an incoming call from a phone number registered here.

Tobira Systems maintains approximately 30,000 phone numbers as a nuisance information database, and obtains new information in three main ways and updates the database daily. The first is user declarations, and more than 14 million users declare their phone numbers every day. The second is the provision of phone numbers from police and local governments, and the phone numbers used in crimes are registered in a database. The third is data collected independently, and based on the huge amount of data that is updated daily from these three information sources, it provides an environment that blocks nuisance calls.

With this background, in response to the fact that special fraud has become a social problem, KDDI has been collaborating with Tobira Systems since May 2015 to eliminate annoying calls and SMS for landlines and mobile phones. has provided block services for

■For landlines ・May 2015: Nuisance call light notification (au users/Tbiraphone) ・December 2015: Nuisance call light notification plan (Cable TV users/Tbiraphone) ・2018 March: Blocking incoming and outgoing nuisance calls (au Hikari subscribers/home gateway) ・February 2022: Automatic blocking of nuisance calls (cable-plus phone subscribers)

■ For mobile ・February 2016: Tobiraphone Mobile for au (app for au smartphones) ・June 2019: Junk messages and phone blocking (app for au smartphones)

I would like to pay attention to the "nuisance call automatic block" service that will start on February 16, 2022. Conventionally, in order to block nuisance calls to fixed-line phones, it was necessary to either install an external countermeasure device or purchase a fixed-line phone with a nuisance call prevention function. Incoming calls are automatically blocked, eliminating the need for dedicated equipment.

The combination of a network blocking mechanism unique to a telecommunications company and technology that utilizes Tobira Systems' unwanted information database has made it possible to always protect fixed-line phones with the latest data.

Of course, it's not just landlines that can be blocked. Since 2019, the service for mobile phones "Unsolicited Message/Call Block", as its name suggests, blocks not only unsolicited calls but also messages. It can also be used as a countermeasure against missing fraud. If you don't have a landline phone at home and only have a mobile phone, please use this as a reference.

Also, recently, nuisance calls from overseas using unused country codes have become a problem, but in order to respond to them quickly, we have added a function that allows you to block all incoming calls from overseas. . By promoting services together with companies that have information on nuisance calls and telecommunications companies, they are working to create an advanced, safe and secure environment.

For mobile phones, in addition to the services provided by KDDI, some iPhones and Android smartphones are equipped with a function to reject unwanted calls and messages as a standard function. I have introduced it in TIME&SPACE in the past, so please refer to that as well.

Masaya Nishizawa, who is in charge of cable TV phone services at KDDI, said.

Nishizawa: Mobile anti-nuisance call service is provided as an app, making it easy for anyone to install. On the other hand, conventional anti-nuisance call countermeasure services for fixed-line phones require replacement phones and installation of special equipment, and can be easily introduced for elderly customers who are more likely to be victims of special fraud. was something I couldn't say. The newly launched "automatic blocking of nuisance calls" is a service that allows you to block nuisance calls without any troublesome settings while using the same phone. increase.

Nishizawa, Sales Planning Department, KDDI CATV: Tobira Systems maintains the largest database of nuisance information in Japan. Together, we have implemented various countermeasure services. The police and local governments are also focusing on educational activities to eradicate special frauds, but the damage has not decreased significantly, and it is recognized that the incoming landline phone that triggers it is an issue. As a company that provides fixed-line phones to our customers, we would like to create an environment where people can use fixed-line phones with peace of mind by reducing nuisance calls by preparing countermeasures against nuisance calls that anyone can easily implement. increase.

Fraud crimes and gray zone crimes that are currently said to be 4 trillion yen. Not only telecommunications companies, but also manufacturers and companies with security technology are working together to achieve a world of zero fraud.