Do not return calls to unknown foreign numbers

CELLPHONE networks in South Africa have issued warnings to their customers about the resurgence of a Japanese-originating telephone scam called Wangiri.

Meaning ‘one and cut’, the Wangiri scam involves a computer randomly telephoning a number anywhere in the world and dropping the call after one ring.

Victims then return the call and are billed at premium rates for their trouble.

The scam started doing the rounds some years back, but a recent resurgence has allegedly seen South African cellphone customers being billed up to almost R800 after returning the missed call.

Both MTN and Vodacom have, between March and now, urged customers to not return missed telephone calls from foreign or unknown numbers.

‘Our investigation has found that some of these numbers are designed to prolong customers to stay longer on the line by a recorded ring-tone or a long recorded message,’ MTN told My Broadband last week.

The cellphone provider said it is monitoring these calls and suspending ranges to prevent customers from calling these numbers.

It is also working with carrier services and originating operators to clamp down on this fraud.

Vodacom also issued a warning to its customers, urging them not to return such calls.

Smart phone applications such as Truecaller can help in providing a block list of known spammers and scam callers.

People are urged to report such numbers to their cell phone service provider, so the number can be authenticated and blocked on its network.

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