You can never be completely calm when we use digital tools and more and more often the gateway for cybercriminals is our smartphone. Phishing, vishing, smishing the names of digital traps are increasing day by day and this list is joined by a new trend in recent months: it’s called «wangiri» (or ping call).
The threat comes from a Japanese term that literally means “one ring and hang up,” and that’s exactly how the bad guys use it to trigger the scam. The mechanism is elementary, the damage instead is a little less venial. In fact, we receive a phone call on our smartphone that lasts a few seconds, just long enough for a ring and then they hang up.
Generally the numbers they are calling us from are with a foreign prefix, Moldavia (+373), Kosovo (+383), Tunisia (+216), Cuba (+53) but unfortunately also from Great Britain (+44) which is certainly a less unusual nation. The intention of the criminals it’s not that you answer like a rocket on the phone, also because they call just when they assume you’re busy or unavailable (during the morning or at night). The trap springs with our innate instinct of curiosity that leads us to call back to find out who has been looking for us.
If we give up the call, Wangiri can cost us dearly, up to 2 euros every 10 seconds albeit on the other end of the phone There is nobody. This scam indeed comes managed completely automatically by called systems robocall which can handle hundreds of simultaneous calls. Our phone calls are thus diverted to numbers with surcharge which unfortunately cannot be blocked in advance.
Not a small damage that creates more annoyance because it is discovered, as always, too late, often the following month with the arrival of the telephone bill. Wangiri is also difficult to counter effectively because it is very unlikely that you will receive a call from the same telephone number over time. The only way, drastic, is to block all calls from abroad or ask your operator to prohibit calls from specific foreign prefixes. However, this option risks bouncing even legitimate calls.
The only effective solution is attention. Never call back an unknown foreign number that just made you a ring. If it was an important call and you didn’t answer it is likely that they will call back or leave you a voicemail. If you have any doubts about prefixes just do a quick check online and you may want to install as well phone spam checker app as true caller.
Source: Vanity Fair
I’m Susan Karen, a professional writer and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in Entertainment news, writing stories that keep readers informed on all the latest developments in the industry. With over five years of experience in creating engaging content and copywriting for various media outlets, I have grown to become an invaluable asset to any team.
