FCC Warns About 'One Ring' Robocall Scam Seeking Callbacks To a Toll Number (nydailynews.com) 96
"Don't return that middle-of-the-night phone call if your cell phone only rang once," warns the New York Daily News:
The Federal Communications Commission on Friday alerted consumers about a wave of "One Ring" robocalls after detecting "widespread overnight calling" in both New York and Arizona. The scam calls, also known as "Wangiri" -- which is Japanese for "one ring and drop" -- are an attempt to trick customers into phoning the number back. If you do, it can result in getting billed toll charges as though you called a 900 number... "They may call repeatedly, hoping the consumer calls back and runs up a toll that is largely paid to the scammer," the FCC said in a press release.
According to the FCC the callers are using the "222" country code of Mauritania, a nation in West Africa, to carry out their scheme. In addition to not returning the phone call, officials encouraged people against calling back numbers they don't recognize -- especially if they appear to be international.
According to the FCC the callers are using the "222" country code of Mauritania, a nation in West Africa, to carry out their scheme. In addition to not returning the phone call, officials encouraged people against calling back numbers they don't recognize -- especially if they appear to be international.
Ok, not there is no way this works (Score:5, Interesting)
bell West Africa get's it's cut so they look the o (Score:2)
bell West Africa get's it's cut so they look the other way.
Re:bell West Africa get's it's cut so they look th (Score:4)
I got 4 calls from Sierra Leone, +232 number. The first one made my phone ring, and I just canceled out of it. The other 3 where caught scam/fraud app on my phone.
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I got 4 calls from Sierra Leone, +232 number. The first one made my phone ring, and I just canceled out of it. The other 3 where caught scam/fraud app on my phone.
I had Sierra Leone and also Lithuania numbers call me. I answered the Sierra Leone number because it continued to ring and I was curious. Nothing but static on the other side, sadly.
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Keep a eye on your bill because they might try some weird shit. I got another call today from Sierra Leone. I don't understand why we put up with this shit. We know there are a lot of these calls coming from Sierra Leone. Why don't we, as a country, black list all calls coming from Sierra Leone until the government there fixes the scam problem?
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West Africa doesn't get the money. Someone between the US Telco and Africa gets the money. The FCC should look into that because I expect they are within the grip of the US govt.
This is related to the FAS (False Answer Signal) problem of a decade ago. I had a phone company bill my company because there were 30 calls set up to a given number where 29 of them were active for more than 20 minutes. 30 calls is an entire E1 (like US T1 but with 6 more lines) worth calls. The problem is that the only compan
Re:bell West Africa get's it's cut so they look th (Score:4, Interesting)
Someone between the US Telco and Africa gets the money.
The US Telco bills the customer and collects the money. They wouldn't do that if they weren't getting a cut.
The FCC should look into that because I expect they are within the grip of the US govt.
Of course the FCC can put a stop to this. But it won't happen before the 2020 election, and perhaps not till 2022 when Ajit Pai terms out.
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You can (and I have) ask your telco to put a "Third Party Billing Block" on your number.
This covers "premium rate calls" (they won't go through) and any other company that tries to bill you through your phone number (like premium SMS services).
Well worth the effort. You may need to spend some time finding out the exact term your carrier uses, but that's what AT&T called it when I had it added.
Also, have them add a PIN code to your account. No changes can be made to the account without the PIN.
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You can (and I have) ask your telco to put a "Third Party Billing Block" on your number.
Perhaps this should be the default.
Also, have them add a PIN code to your account. No changes can be made to the account without the PIN.
Perhaps this should also be the default.
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You're right, of course. But you're barking up the wrong tree.
Slashdot and tech in general are dominated by libertarian anti-regulation anti-government no-one-ever-gave-me-nothing ass-hats.
So the solution isn't telling the government to crack down on the phone companies. It's refusing to use the phone companies and canceling service until one of the phone companies changes. Or start your own phone company. So there you go.
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You're right, of course.
Well, not so much.
These calls come from outside your cell provider's network. Their "cooperation" in this "scam" is that they allow people to call you. That's why it works. People can call you. And they can hang up immediately.
I don't think it would help too much if cell carriers decided not to deliver any call that didn't originate in-network. Nor would it help any to force callers to stay on the line until the phone is answered.
This is not just telemarketing using fake caller ID, so the problem isn
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So, how do you keep from getting ripped off? Don't call international numbers that you don't recognize. If you think you have to have 100% accessibility from random foreign numbers to your cell phone, maybe you should rethink the way you manage your connectivity.
All that you said sounds good.
However, almost every child inf the USA has their own phone. That's the target demographic for these calls.
And every day there's a new batch of children that have to be trained anew.
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However, almost every child inf the USA has their own phone.
And this is "insightful" exactly how? Poor decisions by parents cannot always be solved by technology. Maybe before you hand a child a thing that can rack up thousands of dollars in charges, you teach them not to call back anyone that is not already in their contact list?
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Man, your last sentence is pricelessly funny.
Re: Ok, not there is no way this works (Score:3)
Well, a telco *could* block calls if the numbers mount up. If there are >n calls a minute from one source to different targets. I would guesstimate that the threshold of 5 would do. It would allow a real person to try several numbers, but would make large scale robocalling unfeasible.
Another option would be to introduce an exponentially growing delay connecting calls for these people.
Standard spam fighting stuff.
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Well, a telco *could* block calls if the numbers mount up.
What is the technical definition of "mount up"? And how does one call to a phone reach any definition of "mount up"?
If there are >n calls a minute from one source to different targets.
Ok. A start at a definition. But how does Verizon, for example, know that a user in some foreign country using some other phone company has been making more than N calls per minute? And if N is a known value, then just make N-1 and you've bypassed this magical technological hurdle.
Standard spam fighting stuff.
You forget that "standard spam fighting stuff" only works at a point where the volume can be detected and someone
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Yes, lets start to reply to the first sentence before reading the second one, well done.
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However, you forgot the second part of the scam: fraudster getting a share of the costs of the call back.
Telcos can prevent that very easily by refusing to call foreign premium numbers. Or by blacklisting premium numbers once it gets known that they are used for fraud. Right now telcos act as the collection agents for known frauds, and that's where
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However, you forgot the second part of the scam: fraudster getting a share of the costs of the call back.
Didn't forget it. Considered it outside the scope of the local cell carrier's solution.
Telcos can prevent that very easily by refusing to call foreign premium numbers.
Telcos aren't calling the numbers. People are. Some people will want to call such numbers. Did the telco sell you an incomplete service, that they won't let you call some of the numbers you want to call? Is this significantly different than network neutrality, in that the customer is paying for the service and the provider is putting up roadblocks?
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No. They are complicit when they are charging the customer and paying the scammers. Block the scammers. Unable to differentiate? Block all premium numbers.
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It's refusing to use the phone companies and canceling service until one of the phone companies changes.
"Dear Verizon: I am cancelling service with you because you let someone in a foreign country call me and let it ring just once. Your Friend, Bob." Uhh, ok. I don't think they'll miss your business, but you can try.
I guess you missed the irony. My point is the libertarian point-of-view would be unworkable, which you've also pointed out.
You are also gaslighting about the naive innocence of the phone carriers. As others have kindly explained, the carriers do profit from these calls because they collect charges from their customers, take their cut, then forward the rest to the scammers. They are actively complicit. The cries of "woe-is-me there is nothing we can do, everyone should just be more careful" is classic big bu
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I'm sure there are a few smart folks here, perhaps even you, who could come up with solutions using big data
Sure. Here's one: a drone strike on the office of the scammer making the calls. How's that?
I don't know that the local carrier gets a cut of the charge. Maybe they do. If so, it's done that way for all the premium numbers, not just the scammers. No US carrier signs a contract with a scammer saying they get a higher cut from scam calls.
All the carriers would need is a little government regulation.
Yeah, but which government? The FCC regulating a company in Mauritania would not work very well, I don't think. And regulations that would penalize a US company for a call fr
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I'm not even sure this is a problem.
I say they called a toll number, it was the number they intended to call, and they should pay the fee.
The existence of asshats who call back unfamiliar numbers to harass anybody that might have called are the reason that nobody lets a stranger make a call from their phone. Even with unlimited minutes, it isn't worth the risk.
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I don't know about anyone else, but I don't let strangers make calls from my phone because I don't trust strangers.
Do you actually have strangers walking up to you and asking to use your phone?
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There is a lot of things Phone Companies can do to stop this influx of scam callers.
1. Caller ID should be a trusted number. While there is good reasons to spoof your caller ID number, such as a call back goes to the main line at your company and not the callers direct line. But Companies and organization should have to register for these changes and probably pay a fee for every number being spoofed. Any complaint about a number should be able to be tracked back to the owner on who called you.
2, Caller ID
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There is a lot of things Phone Companies can do to stop this influx of scam callers.
1. Caller ID should be a trusted number. While there is good reasons to spoof your caller ID number, such as a call back goes to the main line at your company and not the callers direct line.
Fuck no. TIf a person at a company can call me directly, I should be able to do the same to them. The only possible exception I would grant is for 9-1-1. Not cops. But 9-1-1 call centers.
f 'em (Score:2)
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And this is why no one trusts the USA to be in charge of anything international.
One Ring to rule them all (Score:1)
One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
No thank you, but have a great week! (Score:2)
I attempt to hang up cordially on an average of 5-8 telemarketers daily, partly I suppose, due to forwarding a business landline to my cell.
I have two thoughts during and immediately after an unsolicited attempt to part me from my Imperial credits: 1)Wow, what a suck job that fellow has, and 2)Who buys the stuff from these blokes so they're encouraged to keep calling?
So, when you're up there on your high horse questioning the likelihood of a person returning a missed call at 2:00 a.m. to an unknown number
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Oh, people are free to sell whatever they want.
But when they intrude on me by calling me they deserve every ounce of abuse they get.
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enough people to make it worth it, on some level, to someone.
More and more I'm convinced that this is not the case. Not for spam, telemarketing, fliers under windshield wipers and stuck in doors, etc.
What I'm increasingly convinced of is that it's prevalent enough that some schmuck figures that it works, so they then fund it. It doesn't work, and they lose their money. But another schmuck sees it and figures that it works, so they fund some. That doesn't work and they lose their money, but then some other schmuck...
It think it's worth it to the people who run the inf
WTH Why Wont The Telcos Fix This (Score:2)
Re: WTH Why Wont The Telcos Fix This (Score:1)
There's no easy fix, if there was then companies like Verizon would happily be charging you extra for "spam protection."
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There's no easy fix, if there was then companies like Verizon would happily be charging you extra for "spam protection."
There is a really easy fix. Realize that the USA has become copmpetely powerless, and don't answer your phone. At this point, if their number isn't in my address book - it doesn't get answered. And as soon as the Telcos allow thye spammers to access our phones and spoof people in our address books, everything will have to go to voicemail.
We're the big country that can't in these matters. Its all too hard!
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There is an easy fix. Enforce anti-spoofing for E164 numbers. Done.
But the USA can't do this. Someone who owns politicians is making some money somewhere.
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This scam seems to be targeted to people with cell phones. My home phone does not have caller ID, so I can't call back on a hang up.
How about the cell phones and services put a prominent query on the screen saying there will be a charge, and do you want to complete the call? Actually, this would be good for any outbound charge call.
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My home phone does not have caller ID, so I can't call back on a hang up.
*69 (no, it won't actually work, as you can trivially block *69.)
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The telcos profit off of the connections. Just like the banks profit off of fraud. The difference is the banks are required by law to give you your money back when someone steals your credit card number (minus some nominal fee, though I don't know of any issuer that charges that fee), provided you report it on time. Most low level fraud goes undetected and unreported. Gas stations used to be the hot target, people would steal a number then buy gas cards with that number, then sell the gas cards for cash
Experienced this earlier this week (Score:5, Insightful)
In my case, though, they were from Ecuador.
Why on earth would anyone call back an international number they don’t recognize? I mean, i don’t even pick up (or return) calls with local numbers i don’t recognize.
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The vast majority of people are, frankly, idiots. And that's why these scams work.
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Old folk with borderline dementia (Score:2)
The REAL fix for spammers and scammers (Score:1)
Put the US military on it, to find them and ERADICATE them, with prejudice.
That would be a very useful use of our armed forces.
FCC warns... (Score:2, Insightful)
...that the're impotent
Pay As You Go (Score:2)
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Also if you use Skype to make international calls, then it won't work.
I got two of these calls about a week ago (Score:3)
Rural northern Arizona here. For one thing, they came in just a few minutes apart in the middle of the night, each one ring. And because Verizon clearly identified the 222 country code as Mauritania, there was no way I felt like returning that call. I assumed at the time that they were international wrong numbers.
There are people who fell for this?
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I didn't fall for this, but these maggots woke me up twice in the middle of the night. I hope someone will track them down and take them out.
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Why would you let your phone wake you up at night when random people call? It seems like a silly choice to make, and an even sillier thing to be mad about.
So why isn't the number blocked? (Score:2)
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It should be trivial for the phone company to defend against these kinds of scam... The question is why they don't do it.
I know it's a rhetorical question, but apparently some people are unsure of the answer, so I'll go ahead and answer.
Money. The phone companies get a cut of the charges they collect from their customers as a result of this scam.
One Ring to Rule Them All (Score:2)
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They've expanded (Score:2)
I'm in Florida and got calls from Sierra Leone.
A problem for whom? (Score:2)
Who even answers their phones these days, much less call back a missed call? No one I know.
I'd think that was a NoMoRoBo intercept (Score:2)
Calls that NoMoRoBo blocks ring once and then NoMoRoBo picks up and deals with it. A ring-once, I'd just think it was NoMoRoBo doing it's job and not even look. A real caller that got intercepted has the option to enter a number to ring through. In all the time I've had this in place, I think that's happened less than five times.