The
phone rang once and was instantly cut. Sixty year old Sally gave a passing
glance at the missed call number which began with + 22 – her local Mumbai code
and called back. At the other end of the
line, she heard the mournful shrieks of a women being beaten, and the savage
voice of a man hurling constant abuses. Worried, confused and in fear that she
may have received an SOS call, she asked “Who’s there, Is there a problem, Stop
it”.
In
the following 3-4 minutes, before she had time to think clearly, her phone
conversation was cut short, due to a lack of funds. The Rs 200 ($ 4) she had
recently topped up her account with, was exhausted. At the mobile store, she
was informed that as she made a call to a premium rate number which charged Rs
50 per minute, her balance was consumed. There was no refund. The telecom
provider was not at fault. She should have checked the number before she made
the call. Only later, did she read in the national newspaper that such frauds
were widespread.
As
she recounted this incident to her neighbor, she asked “If the frauds were so
well known should not the telecom company and the government have done
something about it”.
India is a large prepaid market, and international fraudsters
have conjured several tricks to coax vulnerable people into making such calls
to international premium rate numbers. Calls are charged at a premium to normal
calls. Such numbers are regularly used for adult sex, directory enquiries and voting
for contestants during game shows.
Fraudsters buy
these premium rate numbers from international telecom companies, and earn money
by sharing the revenue for calls made to these numbers. They grow their earnings
by raising call volumes using automated dialers and other such schemes to dupe
victims into calling these numbers. The revenue sharing arrangement, some would
argue, reduces a telecom’s self motivation to check such activity, unless
forced to do so by law or regulation.
The fraudster’s first objective is to dupe people into making
a call to the premium rate number. They do this by making several “ ring once
and cut” (missed) calls to a victims phone, thereby creating a sense of urgency
to call back, and to make the missed call
number appear local by using international numbers which are similar to local
codes. For example an international number +224 may be mistaken for the “022”
Mumbai code, by individuals unfamiliar with international dialing.
The second objective is to try and keep the victim
engaged on the call for as long a time as possible. A longer duration call
results in higher revenue to the fraudster. This is usually done, by playing a
recorded audio tape of a women being abused, having sex or by using a real life
operator masquerade as an agent for schemes such as a lottery the victim is
supposed to have won. The operator takes time to brief the victim on the win,
and even notes down personal details such as his or her postal address to mail
the award too. Personal information can later be used for other types of online
scams.
Stolen phones are also used to call premium rate
numbers. Fraudsters usually do this immediately
after the theft. Tourists who lose their
phones abroad will quickly find out that their set credit limits do not apply -
due to the delay in receiving billing data from the foreign carrier. Bills may
be huge.
Safety
Tips to Keep in Mind to Avoid Call Fraud
1. Do
not call back on unknown international numbers. Be suspicious of “a one ring
and cut” call.
2. Disable
the international dialing facility, if not needed
3. Report
a stolen phone and have the number blocked immediately
Actions
Telecom operators and the Law can take
1. Telecoms
should enable international calling on request, and not by default.
2. Telecoms
should detect if premium rate numbers were used fraudulently through a study of
call patterns
3. Governments
should enact strict laws and penalties to discourage such crimes
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