Scammers have targeted Donegal phone users once again with a bogus call scam.
More instances of the ‘missed call’ scam were reported in Donegal this morning, with people reporting missed calls from countries such as Tunisia, with the country code +216. Scammers from countries such as Chad and Liberia (+213 and +235) have previously targeted Irish phone users.
The scammers will call your phone for a few seconds before hanging up, and when you ring back they will drain your credit.
This type of scam, known as Wangiri fraud, can be difficult to detect as they seem like genuine calls.
Ireland’s communications regulator ComReg is asking people to be wary of these bogus calls and to report any instances to your mobile phone provider.
ComReg advises taking the following precautions:
• Avoid answering calls from numbers that you cannot identify, especially if you are not expecting a call.
• Hang up immediately, on calls where there appears to be no recipient on the other end.
• Be wary of multiple calls being received from the same number.
• Do not call back any number that leaves you a blank voicemail message.
• Do not provide any personal information for example – banking details/PPS number/credit card details/name and address/passport number etc.
Unfortunately there is no way to identify a scam call number, and they can resemble a very normal, familiar, geographical number that we would come across on a daily basis, according to ComReg guidelines.
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