AAP
A SMALL business has been landed with a $120,000 phone bill after criminals hacked into its internet phone system and used it to make 11,000 international calls in just 46 hours.
WA Police Technology Crime Investigations detectives said thieves were targeting Voice over Internet Protocols (VoIP) PBX systems.
Thieves can exploit the call-forward function and run up huge international phone bills, Sergeant Greg Lambert said.
A small Perth business reported its VoIP PBX telephone system was hacked by an unauthorised user who used it to make more than 11,000 international phone calls in a 46-hour period this month.
“This business was alerted to the crime when they received an invoice from their service providers that was in excess of $120,000 as a result of this security breach,” Sgt Lambert said.
Detective Sergeant Jamie McDonald said the business owners had a total bill of $150,000 racked up by the hackers between June and December last year.
Up to 115,000 international mobile calls were made using the small business’s VoIP system over those six months.
Det Sgt McDonald said such frauds were not uncommon but the large bill for the small business had come as a surprise to police.
It was possible the fraud was committed by a shonky service provider offering affordable international calls to consumers and then rerouting them, Sgt Lambert said.
It may also have been fraudsters using the system to run a fake call centre, Det Sgt McDonald said.
Businesses should invest in security software to protect themselves from this type of fraud, Det Sgt McDonald said.
“Most businesses are prepared to install firewalls on their computers but fail to extend that level of security to their phone systems,” he said.
Courtesy: news.com.au
