Hi everyone,
There’s a crafty and conniving scam doing the rounds! It’s called the Wangiri scam. It works via an offender calling a mobile number and hanging up before the victim answers. The missed call is ‘spoofed’ to look like a national call. However, the offender is calling from an overseas location. The intention of the Wangiri scam is to make the victim return the call. However, there’s a catch! If the victim returns the call, they are charged international call rates – in some cases up to $50 per minute!
We’ve recently heard about similar calls to New Zealand business numbers where a recorded message is left in Chinese, purporting to be from the Chinese Embassy. The message asks that the call be returned. In these cases, the calls are received using a ‘spoofed’ New Zealand number. However, the calls are routed through various domestic carriers, making it difficult to block them.
This is why you’ll be fine so long as you DON’T CALL BACK!
For more information on the Wangiri Scam you can visit ScamAlert, NZHerald, ThisisMONEY.