Have you ever received a phone call from an overseas number which lasted only one ring? The wangiri scam is also known as the “one ring and cut” scam – wan means “one” and giri means “hang up” in Japanese. If you return the call, you will hear an advertisement for a subscription to premium chat lines or Internet services – and you will be charged a premium for this call.
In a variation of this scam, the scammer might leave a voice message stating that they are official, and there has been an emergency, to which you must respond by calling them back.
The latest version involves WhatsApp messages with contact attachments, and you would be charged a hefty fee if you called that contact.
Look What Nepal Telecom Say about it?
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR
- You receive calls from an unknown overseas number, which only ring once
- Sometimes these numbers will be similar but slightly different; this could indicate a bank of automated machines making random calls
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
- Do not call the number back
- Look up the number on the Internet to check for reports of scams from that number