Last month we posted a blog about the ‘Wangiri’ scam and the fake missed calls that many people received. The scammers made these calls from premium-rate numbers (based overseas) and bombarded people with one-ring missed calls. Some unfortunate victims who called back were charged anything between Rs. 50 to Rs. 200 per minute.
We received a lot of feedback from our readers about this scam. Apparently, many people have been victimized by this fraud and a lot of them shared their experiences with us. These comments and experiences can be found in the Comments section of that post.
Common numbers and countries of origin
In this post we would like to inform readers about the various countries that these fraudulent calls originated from. Since this scam and such calls are still prevalent, we would like to re-emphasize that you must never call such numbers back if you receive a missed call from them.
|
Prefix of Common Numbers |
Country of Origin |
|
(+) 224 |
New Guinea |
|
(+) 235 |
Chad |
|
(+) 239 |
Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe |
|
(+) 243 |
Democratic Republic of Congo |
|
(+) 252 |
Somalia |
|
(+) 30 |
Greece |
|
(+) 31 |
Netherlands |
|
(+) 33 |
France |
|
(+) 34 |
Spain |
|
(+) 37 |
Germany |
|
(+) 40 |
Romania |
|
(+) 420 |
Czech Republic |
|
(+) 421 |
Slovakia |
|
(+) 44 |
United Kingdom |
|
(+) 54 |
Argentina |
|
(+) 90 |
Turkey |
|
(+) 92 |
Pakistan |
- A majority of these numbers are from European nations.
- A few African countries have also been identified. These are the countries that have a 3-digit country code.
- The most fraudulent calls were received from Pakistan.
How to identify such fake numbers
Our readers should remember that India’s country code is +91. Calls with this prefix are unlikely to be a part of the Wangiri scam but this cannot be ascertained for sure. The scammers usually call an international number so that the calling rates are higher when a victim calls back. You can count the digits of the number to determine the prefix and then check on the web to see what country the call has originated from. If you find the source to be suspicious, do not call back. Report the number to your service provider immediately.
If you possess an Android or BlackBerry smartphone you can use the number blocking feature on Quick Heal Mobile Security. This prevents such calls from reaching your device and also allows you to block spam messages and other threats that emanate from various sources.