Don’t fall victim to this scam
Cellphone users warned not to return missed calls from international numbers
Missed that call? Thinking of returning it to see who it was? Don’t! You could be the next victim of the One Ring scam doing the rounds.
The original name of the scam is the Wankiri scam, and it is believed to have originated in Japan. Wankiri means ‘one cut’ (wan = one and kiri = cut).
“How does it work?” you ask. Well, it’s simple, really. You will receive a call on your cellphone from an international number. It will only ring once, resulting in a missed call. This usually happens during the night and you will only notice the missed call the next morning.
Because the call came from an international number, and people are usually very curious, you’ll probably want to call the number back, to find out who called and what the purpose of the call was.
Once you call the number displayed on the screen, one of two things will probably happen:
– A spam alert will be triggered, resulting in you receiving a lot of spam messages, or
– You will be put on hold immediately, with no conversation from the person on the other line and will end up with a very high cellphone account.
The following country codes have been identified as being part of this scam:
– Burundi (+257)
– Malawi (+265)
– Pakistan (+92)
– Russia (+7)
– Nigeria (+234)
– Tunisia (+216)
– Belarus (+375).
To avoid becoming a victim of this scam, do not return calls to international numbers, unless you know exactly what you are getting into.
Have you been a victim of this scam? Let us know in the comments box below or by sending an email to roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
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