The New Zealand Telecommunications Forum (TCF) announced operators today (3 June) introduced tougher security measures to combat mobile number portability (MNP) fraud to prevent consumer harm.

Subscribers will receive an SMS asking them to confirm any number porting request received by their existing operator, which TCF stated would enable customers to take action if they did not ask to keep their current number when changing provider.

The forum noted MNP fraud “is relatively new and uncommon in New Zealand, but when it does happen it can have a devastating impact on the victim”.

TCF communications director Andrew Pirie explained MNP was implemented in 2007, but the industry recently became concerned “about the potential for fraudsters to exploit the number porting process”.

Operators also tightened the requirements for customers to verify their identification when requesting a SIM swap, while a more advanced SMS system requiring subscribers to approve number porting requests is in the pipeline and is expected to be deployed in October.

“With these new security measures, we aim to add another layer of protection for our customers,” Pirie said.