WANGIRI …A New Phone Scam
‘Wangiri’ is a Japanese word meaning ‘one (ring) and cut’. It’s a telephone scam where criminals trick you into calling premium rate numbers.
“Beware of this costly new phone scam” advises Europol, a website created to ‘support its Member States in preventing and combatting all forms of serious international and organised crime, cybercrime and terrorism’ .
HOW DOES IT WORK?
You find a missed call on your phone. If you call the number back, you will be re-routed to a premium rate number overseas and will be subsequently charged for the very expensive call.
Europol’s advice is to be wary of any number with a foreign code at the beginning….but of course this is a particular dilemma for those who have friends, family and business contacts outside France.
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS?
The call….
…..takes place at night or during working hours (reducing the chances for the recipient to answer the call).
…..displays an unusual international country code.
…..rings only once.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
It’s hard to protect yourself from dubious calls and phone scams, but to limit them, you can register with the government service Bloctel service and/or report a fraudulent number by calling 33700.
