Why Am I Getting Calls From Countries Like Burundi, Malawi, Pakistan, Russia etc.?
Well, first of all, it’s none of your fault! In all probability someone is trying to trick you and steal your money. If you get calls from phone numbers beginning with country codes of Burundi (+257), Malawi (+265), Pakistan (+92), Russia (+7), Nigeria (+234), Tunisia (+216), Belarus (+375) etc.; do not pick such calls if the number is unknown to you. These calls are part of a scam that has been in existence since early 2000s. The scam is said to be originated in Japan and it used to be called Wangiri. The word wangiri is Japanese means one ring and cut. And this is exactly what the scammers do.
How does the One Ring Scam Work?
The scammer will hire an international premium rate number (IPRN) from a local phone company. After this, the scammer will give you one ring and then disconnect the call. You will think that you missed an important call (that too a call from foreign country! it must be important! –that’s how a lot of people think). So, you will call back on the same number and your call will be taken. Usually, nobody will talk to you from the other side and you’ll keep on saying something like “hello, hello, hello, is anybody there?!“. Eventually, receiving no answer, you will get frustrated and hit the disconnect button on your mobile phone. However, by then you would have lost quite a bit of money. Sometimes, these scam number will redirect your call to other very expensive numbers which offer adult content. The longer you stay on call, the higher you’ll be charged. To keep you on call for longer period, please-hold-the-line music could also be played until you get frustrated and cut the call yourself. In addition to the missed calls, you may also receive SMS/WhatsApp/Email that would ask you to “please urgently call back” on a given (fraud) number. You call and you lose money!
Why was Money Deducted from My Phone Balance?
After the call, when you will check your prepaid phone balance, you will realize that you have lost a large sum of money for making an international call. You might be wondering why do people make such one ring call scams? What benefit do they get out of it? Well, apparently, these scammers get their commission from the phone companies whose premium rate number they use to trick you. They may get up to $1 for every incoming call! Hundreds of thousands of people get tricked everyday; so you can imagine the kind of easy money scammers are making. It is a nexus between individuals and some phone companies in Africa and countries of erstwhile USSR.
Can You Get Your Money Back?
Unfortunately not. You can not get the money back as it is already charged for the call that you made yourself. Technically, the scammers are not offenders in this case. They simply offer you a bait and you take it. You make the call in response to the missed call on your own will. So, the phone networks are legally allowed to collect the charges from you.
How to Avoid Getting Scammed by One Ring Scammers?
There are a few things that you can do to avoid getting trapped in such scams. Here are some suggestions for TechWelkin readers:
List of Countries to Watch out for in the One Ring Scam
+221 – Senegal +222 – Mauritania +223 – Mali +224 – Guinea +225 – Côte d’Ivoire +226 – Burkina Faso +227 – Niger +228 – Togo +229 – Benin +257 – Burundi +265 – Malawi +92 – Pakistan + 7 – Russia +234 – Nigeria +216 – Tunisia +375 – Belarus +91 – India +20 – Egypt +235 – Chad +381 – Serbia +994 – Azerbaijan +676 – Tonga
I hope that this article has helped you in understanding the one ring scam. I advise you not to pick calls from unknown numbers that originate from foreign countries. Today’s world is full of digital frauds. Please be safe. If you have faced the one ring scam, please share your experience in the comments section below so that other readers can benefit from your experience and advice. Thank you for using TechWelkin!
