Anti-phishing phone bug trial begins

A trial of anti-phishing technology has begun in Japan that will allow banks and police eavesdrop on phone calls.

A hundred residents of the Okayama prefecture will have bug devices installed on their phone lines that will help identify phishing scams as they happen.

It will detect fraudulent calls by listening to keywords spoken over the phone.

When a suspicious call is detected, the victim will receive an automated voice message warning of the scam, while family members, local police and the victims’ bank will be sent emails.

The bank will freeze the target’s accounts and police will be dispatched to the victims’ home.

Specifically, the technology blends voice detection tuned to changes in voice pitch – indicative of so-called 'overtrust' – with a list of keywords typically used in phishing scams such as 'indebtedness' and 'compensation'.

The trials will involve the communications unit of the Chugoku Regional Police Bureau, Okayama Police and the Chugoku Bank.

They are designed to improve the accuracy of the technology and to help extend the alarm system. The technology’s creators from Nagoya University and Fujitsu are now investigating how fraud can be prevented “before it actually occurs”.

The technology was detailed in the study by Modeling and Detecting Overtrust from Behavior Signals (pdf).

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