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Wed, May 23, 2012

World's First SIM Swap Fraud Solution for Banking Industry


Published on 2012-05-23 08:30:50 - Market Wire
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May 23, 2012 11:21 ET

UPDATE: World's First SIM Swap Fraud Solution for Banking Industry

LONDON and NORWALK, CT--(Marketwire - May 23, 2012) - Adeptra, the global expert in customer engagement technologies, today announced that in partnership with ValidSoft, a subsidiary of Elephant Talk Communications Corp. (NYSE MKT: [ ETAK ]) (NYSE Amex: [ ETAK ]), it has developed, tested and implemented the world's first detection and prevention application to tackle the growing problem of SIM card fraud for the banking industry. The solution combines ValidSoft's unrivalled fraud detection technology, with the rich and robust functionality of the cloud based Adeptra Risk Intervention Platform.

Following a successful pilot project at a long-standing Adeptra client, one of the world's largest banks is the first to adopt the application. This solution provides the marketplace an opportunity to engage and understand customer data in a way that protects the banks and their customers within a real-time intervention delivered by Adeptra. This is the first Adeptra partner to successfully address the issue of SIM card fraud. The bank's adoption of the application is another stage in its work to secure all transaction channels by using leading edge technology and Adeptra's cloud based Risk Intervention Platform to deliver the process.

SIM swapping is a financial crime that is increasing in frequency, where fraudsters obtain and utilize a replacement SIM card to acquire security messages and one-time passwords sent to the consumer by the bank. Criminals are then able to change details, add beneficiaries and transfer money out of the account using personal information that may have been acquired through phishing attempts. While most types of financial fraud are recognizing reductions due to chip and pin, phone fraud saw a 48% increase in 2011.

The deployment at the bank comprises SIM swap protection provided by ValidSoft's baseline processing system, coupled with its unique predictive modeling capabilities. Once a suspected case has been highlighted, Adeptra's Decision Engine considers all available detection sources and a wide array of consumer data to ascertain the risk level. The system will then determine whether a communication is required and initiates the communication via the most appropriate channel for that particular customer.

Adeptra's CTO, Tony McGivern, commented: "Once again, Adeptra leads the market into a new territory by engaging and delivering the most sophisticated anti-fraud solutions in the industry today. Without any additional capital investment and using existing technology, banks can benefit from best-in-class fraud detection applications that deliver loss avoidance options to our clients. Adeptra assesses and defines the intervention necessary to prevent further losses based on the critical data that ValidSoft delivers."

Pat Carroll, CEO of ValidSoft, commented: "We are very pleased to see our partnership with Adeptra bearing fruit so quickly. The contract with a global leader in the banking industry demonstrates that ValidSoft's security technology is at the forefront of fraud prevention solutions. Our partnership with Adeptra combines the market leader in sophisticated customer care with the best of breed in fraud prevention solutions."

About Adeptra
Adeptra is the global market leader in consumer engagement technology that automates key call center and back office interactions. Based on an intelligent decision engine that reduces costs and dramatically increases the consumer experience, Adeptra's applications are fully-integrated, industry-specific solutions for business processes including fraud detection, payment reminders, and opt-in marketing all within a cloud environment.

Adeptra manages thousands of customer engagements simultaneously and achieves higher levels of portfolio penetration to produce significantly better results than human agents alone. The resolutions it secures are delivered to clients' computer systems for reporting and analysis.

Among its many customers, Adeptra is used by the majority of leading retail banks across EMEA, North America and APAC. It occupies a premium position in the market by continually reinvesting in its technology, operations and service structure. The company's commitment to the highest standards of data security compliance was recently re-confirmed, as Adeptra became the first Interactive Voice Messaging organization to meet both Payment Card Industry Security Standard (PCI DSS) v2.0 and ISO27001 standards on a global basis. For more information, visit [ www.adeptra.com ].

About ValidSoft
ValidSoft is a subsidiary of Elephant Talk Communications Corp. (NYSE MKT: [ ETAK ]) ([ www.elephanttalk.com ]) and is a market leader in providing solutions to counter electronic fraud relating to card, the internet, and telephone channels. ValidSoft's solutions are at the cutting edge of the market and are used to verify the authenticity of both parties to a transaction (Mutual Authentication), and the integrity of the transaction itself (Transaction Verification) for the mass market, in a highly cost effective and secure manner, yet easy to use and intuitive. For more information, please visit ([ www.validsoft.com ]).

Elephant Talk Communications Corp. (NYSE MKT: [ ETAK ]) is an international provider of business software and services to the telecommunications and financial services industry.

Forward-Looking Statement for ValidSoft
Certain statements contained herein constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may include, without limitation, statements with respect to the Company's plans and objectives, projections, expectations and intentions. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the Company's industry, management's beliefs and certain assumptions made by management. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Because such statements involve risks and uncertainties, the actual results and performance of the Company may differ materially from the results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Unless otherwise required by law, the Company also disclaims any obligation to update its view of any such risks or uncertainties or to announce publicly the result of any revisions to the forward-looking statements made here. Additional information concerning certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from that projected or suggested is contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), copies of which, are available from the SEC or may be obtained upon request from the Company.


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