Do you remember those sentimental “Reach Out and Touch Someone” long distance commercials from yesteryear? Absolute tear jerkers! Unfortunately, today’s long distance call may bring you to tears for all the wrong reasons! Our national telecoms, including Telus, Bell and Rogers, continue to issue warnings concerning the Wangiri Fraud. Derived from Japanese, term Wangiri literally means, “one and cut.” Victims of the Wangiri Fraud scam receive a telephone call from an international number. The phone rings just long enough to pique your curiosity and for the caller’s phone number to appear on your caller ID.
Human nature drives us to call back, and once on the line the fraudster will attempt to keep you chatting for as long as possible, determined to run up expensive long distance charges.
What can you do?
Do not call back unknown international numbers
Should you be expecting a long distance call, confirm by text, or messenger that the call is legitimate and from someone you know before returning the call
Block the number
Rest assured, Fraud Management teams are working to shut down the scammers with some success. Now does anyone know a Nigerian Prince with a highly lucrative investment opportunity? We’d like to give him a call.