Don't be caught out by this phone scam doing the rounds in Ireland

It's been happening this week...

Irish people have been targeted by a phone scam over the past week or more as fraudsters attempt to extract money from unsuspecting members of the public.

The scam known as Wangiri fraud, involves an unknown number calling your phone and leaving you with a missed call. When people call the number back, their phone credit is drained or a hefty charge is added to their phone bill.

The calls in Ireland appear to be originating from Guinea and are either leaving you with a missed call or asking you to hold on the line while they redirect you to another more expensive number (they won't tell you that last part).

Scammers carry out this by buying up a range of numbers and then using machines to make short automated calls to people, short enough so that no one has time to answer.

It's important to note that answering the call won't cost you money (unless they redirect you to another number), but if you call them back it will cost you money and the longer you stay on the line, the more expensive it will be.

The Wangiri scam has been doing the rounds in Ireland with some people reporting the calls on Friday.

If you receive a missed call from a number like this:

• Do not call back. If it's legitimate call, the chances are they will phone you again
• Be vigilant if calling unknown numbers from different countries.

The scam is running in countries around the world with many of the calls originating from Russia and Africa.

While you're here, check out Episode 27, our Hallowe'en special of The JOE Show...