TPG Telecom Blocks 19 Million Scam Calls with New CallShield Technology

In the first six months of 2024, Mavenir’s technology blocked over 59.6 million fraudulent text messages from reaching TPG Telecom’s customers.

Mavenir, the Network Software Provider building the future of networks with cloud-native solutions that run on any cloud, today announces that its advanced machine learning (ML) technology is being used by TPG Telecom to protect mobile users from the increasing scourge of AI-driven scams and spam voice calls – resulting in a 280 percent increase in the number of fraudulent calls being blocked before they reach TPG Telecom customers’ mobile phones.

The Australian telco has been benefiting from Mavenir’s intelligent SpamShield technology protection for SMS messaging for several years. Mavenir is now supplying its robust, real-time CallShield solution to protect TPG Telecom’s customers across its Vodafone, TPG, iiNet, and Felix brands from the nuisance and threat of automated and deep fake voice calls initiated by fraudsters.

In the first six months of this year, Mavenir’s CallShield technology has blocked almost 19 million fraudulent mobile calls from reaching TPG Telecom’s customers. This equates to blocking 103,000 illicit calls from reaching customers per day and more than triple the 4.9 million calls blocked in the first half of 2023. This represents some of the industry’s highest scam and spam call prevention figures.

TPG Telecom also uses Mavenir’s SpamShield platform to stop fraudulent SMS from reaching its mobile users. In the first six months of 2024, Mavenir’s technology blocked over 59.6 million fraudulent text messages from reaching TPG Telecom’s customers.

Communication Service Providers (CSPs) globally are facing a constantly evolving flow of unsolicited spam and fraud traffic – across both data and voice services – which is increasingly driven by sophisticated AI techniques, making it very difficult to detect and control. In addition to creating a poor user experience and significant revenue losses for operators, a 2022 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission report highlighted that phone scams cost Australians a concerning A$141 million in losses. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), the regulator of the country’s telecommunications system, is spearheading industry action to crack down on spam and scam calls and ensure that consumers are adequately protected – enforcing regulatory compliance from operators and supporting the roll-out of effective security solutions from technology vendors. Mavenir’s CallShield solution uses real-time machine learning technology to carry out automated security analysis and proactive defense across voice services – helping operators to stay one step ahead of the scammers. The CallShield solution provides CSPs with 360-degree control to effectively address specific network situations quickly and flexibly. While traditional detection and prevention techniques are based on deterministic rules that can be easily detected and bypassed, CallShield’s ML detection algorithms with built-in intelligence adapt to current network conditions and subscriber behavior to continually detect and block attempted activity from spammers and fraudsters.

TPG Telecom Chief Technology Officer Giovanni Chiarelli said: “Our business is built on the trust of our customers. We are committed to embracing new technologies that provide the best possible protection against the nuisance and threat of malicious harm these spammers and scammers pose. We are pleased Mavenir’s CallShield technology provides real-time, automated security analysis and effective customer security across our voice services.”

Jan Schaar, Asia Pacific Regional Vice President for Mavenir, added: “The speed and sophistication of the techniques being employed by scammers and fraudsters means that a reactive security approach based on purely “reporting” spam is no longer enough. To offer mobile users the assurance and peace of mind they need today, we need to work harder and smarter and remain one step ahead at all times – continuously learning from and anticipating the scammers’ next move. Our SpamShield platform, with its powerful ML-driven engine, is already delivering state-of-the-art, proactive security and protection across TPG’s messaging services. We are happy to extend the solution span by providing our robust CallShield technology, ensuring that TPG’s mobile customers can now enjoy the same superior protection from nuisance and malicious threats that arrive in the form of unwanted voice calls.”