Phone number scoring is a key tool for verifying identity and filling the gap in two-factor authentication (2FA). This method of checking a phone number’s reputation for fraud is used by companies that offer services like online banking, mobile payment apps, or other accounts that require some form of identification. It works by examining data like where the phone number was registered and what software, businesses, and other services are associated with it. It then ranks that information based on its likelihood to be involved in fraud and other bad behavior. This allows businesses to accept or reject users based on their scores, which can help prevent fraud and maintain community integrity.

Many different factors are used to determine a phone number’s reputation for fraud and other bad behavior, and those criteria are constantly evolving as scammers try to outwit detection methods. For example, using a burner phone number and rotating through them regularly to avoid being labeled as spam can make it difficult for 2FA systems to recognize legitimate numbers.

That’s why it’s important to have a system that can adapt to these changes, and this is where phone number scoring comes in. It’s a process of analyzing metadata on billions of phone numbers, based on a wide variety of sources, to get a snapshot of the quality and history of those numbers. Then, it uses that information to create a risk score for each number, which is then compared against a list of fraud-prone phone numbers. This helps identify spoofed or fake numbers, which are then removed from call and SMS logs.

To perform this type of phone validation, a company like Telesign uses several sources of information, including the location where a number was registered, whether it’s a VOIP or traditional landline, and what software and businesses are associated with it. They also look at the number’s current status, such as whether it’s active or not. Additionally, they check the number against blacklists and other fraud intelligence from Fraud Fusion, a fraud consortium that collects data from a large network of partners.

In addition to identifying suspicious callers, a robust phone number verification service like LocateScore can also improve sales and marketing efficiency by reducing time spent on follow-ups with the wrong people. It uses a combination of real-time phone validation and automated robocall blocking to filter out high-risk numbers from the start. It also gives marketers a clear picture of the leads they have and which ones are most likely to result in a right party contact (RPC) so they can focus their resources on them.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to use phone number scoring to reduce the amount of time and money you spend on unqualified calls, check out this article from Telesign, which explains the process of how their phone score is developed. And if you want to see how phone number scoring can work for your business, let’s schedule some time to chat.

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