Be on your guard with this one.
Irish people have been targeted by a phone scam over this week 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 Bosnia 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.
People have been reporting that the number looks like it’s from Ireland, as it starts with 087, but it has been declared unsafe on phonenumbers.ie.
The same number, 087 655 60811, has been reported numerous times:
Scammers carry out the fraud 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.
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.
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