The story behind those missed calls from Liberia...
THERE’S been a big upsurge in a type of fraud known as the ‘one ring’, or ‘wangiri’ scam.
The name comes from the way the scammers hang up before you have a chance to answer (wangiri means ‘one ring and cut’ in Japanese).
Most of us know people who have been targeted, often repeatedly.
They may get numbers from international lists compiled when we enter our phone numbers online for competitions or to register for a website. These can be hacked, passed on or sold to the fraudsters. But they also use computers to generate random numbers. So nobody is safe. If you call that number, it’s a premium rate line with hefty charges.
The big consumer question is – can these scammers really get away with extracting money from us in such a deceptive way? Alas, it seems, they can.
While, in some blatant cases phone companies may waive the charge, the official line is that the consumer has rung a premium rate line and must pay.
One Donegal woman reportedly had to fork out over €150 for returning a phone call to Liberia. ‘Unfortunately, if you make the call, you incur the charges,’ said Torlach Denihan, director of the Irish Cellular Industry Association. He explained that your phone operator is obliged to pay on your behalf because the Irish phone network is part of a global chain with charges incurred in every jurisdiction the line crosses.
However, industry sources say that some international networks don’t impose charges for some numbers where the level of fraud is extremely high and obvious.
But surely more should be done to stop what Mr Denihan acknowledges are blatant scammers?
Again, sadly, these global con
artists seem to be enjoying a free-for-all, where no international body exists with the powers or the will to hunt them down. ‘To be fair to the authorities, their reach can only go so far. When you ring back a number in another jurisdiction that’s a risk,’ said Mr Denihan.
A spokesman for the Irish telecoms regulator Comreg said it has in the past blocked all calls from 13 particularly problematic countries. But this is a very drastic step and it really only has powers ‘within the borders of Ireland’.
You’re not even safe to assume a call from within the EU is safe, even though the industry is closely regulated within its borders. Some of the numbers have appeared to emanate from places like Austria and Belgium, but they were rerouted there from less well-policed, parts of the world.
‘Unfortunately there is no way to identify a scam call number, and they can resemble a very normal, geographically familiar, number that we would come across on a daily basis,’ said the Comreg spokesman.
He advises consumers to make sure to have all their important contacts named in their directory. Then let incoming calls go to voicemail, where they will be screened. If the number matches one of your contacts, the name will appear, if not, it is suspect.
Some phones now give the country of origin, or even the county, for calls.