Global carriers urged to adopt new standardized framework to cut off financial incentives to fraudsters
The i3Forum’s Fight Fraud Workgroup has unveiled a significant addition to its fraud prevention toolkit: the i3Forum SMS Dispute Contract Clause, a unified, practical framework designed to help international carriers fight back against the growing threat of SMS Artificial Inflation of Traffic (AIT) fraud.
The deliverable marks a strategic step forward in cutting off the money flow to fraudsters and dismantling the economic motivation behind AIT scams. When fraudulent SMS traffic is identified, the clause enables carriers to dispute charges and reverse payments not just to direct suppliers, but also to intermediaries further down the chain. This approach delivers a tangible financial penalty to those responsible—or complicit—in the fraudulent activity.
The i3Forum clause is backed by real-world expertise and offers clear, standardized language for integrating AIT fraud provisions into existing SMS contracts. It is part of a larger effort to create an industry-wide, uniform method for identifying and handling fraudulent SMS traffic disputes. Carriers are encouraged to amend their contracts to include the clause and promote its adoption across their interconnection partners, ensuring a consistent global approach.
A Costly Global Problem
Recent industry reports underscore the magnitude of the AIT problem:
- Mobilesquared reported that in 2023 alone, up to 35.7 billion fraudulent AIT messages were sent globally, with 80% of all OTP (One-Time Password) requests deemed fraudulent, costing the industry an estimated $1.15 billion.
- Feedback from 278 mobile network operators (MNOs) across 135 countries in ROCCO’s 2025 SMS Monetization Market Impact Report identified AIT fraud as a critical threat to SMS revenue and ecosystem trust.
- Enterprises too are concerned: ROCCO’s Enterprise Edition of the A2P SMS Report 2025 shows that AIT transparency and fraud prevention are top priorities for businesses choosing messaging partners.
How the Clause Works
The i3Forum SMS Dispute Contract Clause was developed through collaborative contributions from the i3Forum Fight Fraud Workgroup, leveraging the team’s deep experience with the successful Voice Fraud Contract Clause. The SMS clause mirrors its voice counterpart in structure and enforcement, ensuring ease of integration for carriers already familiar with i3Forum frameworks.
This clause, together with the SMS Fraud Dispute Process Document and the GLF-i3Forum Messaging Code of Conduct, forms a comprehensive anti-fraud toolkit based on process, commitment, and oversight. It includes standardized definitions, dispute procedures, and best practices for both A2P and P2P messaging scenarios.
The initiative aims not only to stop payments on fraudulent traffic but also to send a strong message to the industry: collaboration and consistent action are key to neutralizing AIT fraud at its source.