DOMESTIC TO INTERNATIONAL COLLECT CALL BLOCKING

• US 20100142690A1
• Filed: 02/12/2010
• Published: 06/10/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Global Tel-Link Corporation
• Original Assignee: Verizon Business Global LLC (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Marchand, Dean C., Springer, Arthur Lance
• Granted Patent: US 8,442,193 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/114.140
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/47 Fraud detection or prevention means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/6027 Fraud preventions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0148 Fraud detection or prevention means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/38 Graded-service arrangements, i.e. some subscribers prevented from establishing certain connections queuing arrangements H04Q3/64

Abstract

A method and device for preventing fraud in collect calls from a domestic origin point to an international terminating point through a long-distance telecommunications system is described. In the system and method, a Screening for International Calls database is added to the call processing platform. This Screening of International Calls database contains records keyed by country codes, and each record has a blocked collect call field listing destination numbers that are blocked from receiving collect calls. When a domestic-to-international collect call is made, the record corresponding to the country code of the international terminating point of the collect call is retrieved from the Screening for International Calls database. This record is checked to determine if the destination number of the collect call matches any destination numbers listed in the blocked collect call field of the country code database record. If there is a match, the call is blocked.

Claims

1. A method for preventing telephony fraud, the method comprising:

maintaining a centralized database resident within a domestic region, the database being configured to store a block call list that includes a terminating number corresponding to an international region, wherein the database is accessible by all telephony switches within a first telephony network; and

receiving a database query initiated by one of the telephony switches in response to a collect call placed to a destination number terminated via a second telephony network within the international region, wherein the collect call is blocked if the database query results in a response indicating the destination number is within the block call list.