Consumer watchdog, The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has warned mobile phone users to avoid returning missed international calls.
Many Indians living in Australia have reported receiving missed calls from international numbers. Few of those who received such calls have shared the information warning members of the closed Facebook user groups.
ABC News reports the latest series of missed international calls is the return of wangiri scam, a Japanese word loosely translated to ‘one cut’.
Source: Facebook
Source: Facebook
ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard told ABC News that people who call back those international numbers incur huge phone bills.
"What typically happens is the scammer calls for just one ring then cuts the line leaving a missed call on the victim's phone," she said.
"Then the victim calls the number back and they could be put on hold, have music playing or they could try and chat.
"The objective is to keep them on the phone for as long as possible."
She said scammers make money by getting people to call back a premium number similar to those used by psychic hotlines and sex lines.
Source: Facebook
"There's a complicated billing structure but people are charged more when they're communicating over these numbers and the money makes its way back to the scammer," she said.
Ms Rickard recommends ignoring calls from country codes you don't recognise and from 19 or 1900 numbers in Australia.
"The other thing that we know in the past about premium services is sometimes if you call your mobile provider and tell them what's happened, you won't end up having to pay the charge," Ms Rickard said.
"Some mobile providers are prepared to do that, so it's worth a try if you want your money back."
