We all have our digital world in our smartphones and they are very important for making contact, storing our information, and doing financial transactions. Therefore the security of smartphones is very important. We have very important information and money on our mobile which includes the balance. So scammers are always targeting that. One Ring Scam in Nepal is a new type of scam which is also known as “Wangiri” or fake missed call scam. Nepali users are being targeted these days so Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) has issued a notice to make everyone aware.
What is the One Ring Scam in Nepal? Wangiri
The word “Wangiri” is a Japanese term that means dropping after one ring. In this scam, missed calls or just one ring of call comes from an international number. The calls are made by computers or bots to mobile users using various random numbers. The scammers make just one or two rings and drop it. But a normal user like you and I think that it might be an important call from our friends and family abroad. So we rush to return the call.
After returning calls on the missed number, you hear no reply and you just scream “Hello Hello” and then leave the call after some time. In the meantime, a heavy charge is levied and you have to pay a huge amount of money to your telecom operators like NTC or Ncell. Your balance is deducted and you lose money. This money goes to the scammer’s premium rate number who made such a call. This is the whole working of the Wangiri scam or One Ring scam in Nepal. Actually, foreign scammers are targeting Nepali users so we have to be very aware.
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NTA Notice for Public Awareness on Missed Call Scam
Nepali mobile phone users are facing phone fraud from foreign numbers. The one-ring missed call scam or Wangiri scam is the main one these days. Actually, many people are receiving missed calls from numbers starting with +21 and many other codes. If a user calls back, their balance or money is heavily deducted from the account. It is a serious type of phone fraud and Nepali telecom companies are responding to it. Nepal Telecommunication Authority issued a notice regarding one ring scam to make people aware.
In the notice, NTA has described about the process and modus operandi of the entire scam. NTA suggested not picking up calls from unknown international numbers. They also suggested only returning calls only if you are fully confident. Don’t return the numbers that you have no information about. If someone really needs you, they will call you again and with a full ring. Also, a friend or a family member won’t surely just make a missed call. These days they would either call you through VOIP services like Viber out, WhatsApp, Facebook, Skype, and more.
Ncell and NTC said that they have found that these numbers are registered in Tunisia. They are also working to blacklist these numbers and block them. A few years back, there was another scam where provocative, explicit, and aggravating messages were coming to users. Then the people were told to call on a certain number and just like this one, their balance would be deducted. There are scams that can also steal your information and put security at risk.
How to be secure from missed call scams?
Nepal Telecom Authority has suggested a lot of things to be secure and safe. These are some of the things to take care of to be safe from scams like Wangiri or the one ring scam.
- Don’t pick up calls from an unknown international number.
- Only return calls to numbers you actually know about.
- If you are expecting calls from a family member or friend, ask for their number beforehand through internet message, chat, email, or SMS so that you can save the number and be confident.
- Block the number if you are repeatedly getting calls from unknown international numbers. Bots and computers generate random numbers to make missed calls. So targets or victims can get calls from various numbers. If it is really your family member or friend, they will surely send a personal relatable message when you don’t pick up. Scammers on the other hand send provoking messages.
- Give high attention to numbers from the USA, Germany, South Sudan, North Africa, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Russia, and more.
- Do not share any personal information, banking details, or family details on calls with an unknown person.
- Do not respond to emails claiming you have won a lottery that you have not participated in. We know that people take part in a giveaway that happens on different websites, Twitter accounts, and YouTube channels so we have to know where we have participated.
- You can also use the Truecaller website to search for details of unknown numbers.
- You can also report such numbers to “[email protected]“ and “[email protected]“.
So, make sure that you don’t call on any suspicious number that has messaged you with provoking offers or such things. Don’t call back on missed calls from international numbers until you are 110% sure of them. Finally, never reveal your banking information, OTP, and CVV code that is at the back of your card. Some smartphones also have internal spam and scam filters these days. So use them else you can use mobile app like True Caller to remain safe.
