People have been complaining about receiving calls from unknown numbers, Many people after picking call get no answer or are told many excuses to keep them online. They give excuses like asking for credit card details, receiving Gifts and much more.
Sometimes, when you see missed calls from these numbers, don’t ring back it is a scam, if you ever called them back it could cost you even Rs 200 or more. Mostly People get calls from International Numbers, after tracing they are mostly from Burundi, Malawi, Pakistan, Russia, Nigeria Etc. and from these most are from African Countries. Some are even from INDIA but most are from outside.
How Does It Work?
This type of Scam is called “One ring and cut”, In this type a scammer hires a International Premium Rate Number ‘IPRN’ from a Telecom company, After that scammer gives you one ring and then disconnects call, thinking that you missed a urgent call, you ring back. But unfortunately it costs you a lot of money. Sometimes these numbers will redirect your number to other companies for advertising purpose.
After the call when you will check the balance you will see a large sum of money has been deducted from your number. The question raises what they get from this? The Telecom companies provide them commission for this, Sometimes as high as $1-$5.
Can You Get Your Money Back?
No, You can’t get your money back.
Steps to Avoid these Scams?
- Do not pickup calls from numbers outside India.
- Try to first verify the country code using Google or Caller ID apps.
- If you are expecting calls from outside country, keep the number saved in your Phone.
- Use Mobile Applications like Truecaller, do not pickup if it failed to give you information.
- If you miss a call, search it first using apps like truecaller then if you think that the call is important then ring back.
- Reporting all Suspicious calls to your operator will be a nice step, as they may block the numbers.