MEF Publishes A2P Messaging Fraud Framework to Raise Awareness

By Laura Stotler
TMCnet Contributing Editor

The Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF) has singled out 11 distinct fraud types that impact messaging throughout the world in an attempt to raise awareness and combat cyber crime. The organization has published its A2P Messaging Fraud Framework as part of The Future of Messaging program it is sponsoring.

Based on input from 25 companies, the Framework is meant to promote best practices for mobile messaging while creating awareness about fraud and security issues. The MEF (News - Alert) is hoping to accelerate market growth and encourage innovation by publishing the framework and messaging program.

“The A2P messaging market continues to enjoy robust growth both in terms of traffic with new sectors embracing messaging for mission critical and other business to consumer communication,” said Joanne Lacey, COO of the MEF and director of the messaging program. “However, the prevalence of fraud across the value chain directly impacts monetization today and threatens the market’s ability to sustain growth.”

In fact, while the application-to-person (A2P) messaging market is valued at billions of dollars, fraud is responsible for roughly $2 billion in annual losses and has created volatility within the marketplace. The MEF has singled out several general but common types of fraud in an effort to combat the trend. These include SMS phishing, hacking and faking, grey routes and SIM farms. The A2P Fraud Messaging Framework goes into more detail about the types of fraud as well as their causes and impact on the marketplace. It is also meant to form the basis for future best practices guidelines, slated to be drafted and published through the MEF messaging program.

“It’s essential that the industry works together to advance the future of messaging,” said Rimma Perelmuter, CEO of the MEF. “Taking a cross-ecosystem approach representing the consumer and enterprise perspectives and fully reflecting the priorities of networks and the broader messaging industry will ensure that this initiative delivers long-term impact and enables this flourishing sector to unleash its full potential.”           

The program is comprised of MNOs, SMS aggregators, signaling companies, application service providers and enterprise messaging companies. Members include Jersey Telecom, Mahindra Comviva, Mblox, SAP Telefonica and Twilio (News - Alert).