In recent months, Bureau Telecommunicatie en Post (BT&P) has received new notifications from mobile phone owners reporting scam telephone calls, text messages or missed calls from suspicious unknown international numbers identified as so called “Wangiri” calls or “Ping” calls.

These are typically 1 ring phone calls that stop before the person on the receiving end can pick up and are meant to lead to a call back or text messages with an urgent request to return a call. These are fraudster attempts to lure people into returning calls resulting in financially scams.

The most recent scam has been reported in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission and identified as the “Can you hear me scam”, that records the voice response of the person called.

The scam begins when the receiver of the call is asked the question “Can you

hear me?”. The caller then records the “Yes” response and thus obtains a voice signature.

This signature can later be used by the scammers to pretend to be the person previously called and authorize fraudulent charges via telephone.

Although scam calls are not a new phenomenon and there is some public awareness in this regard, BT&P urges all mobile phone owners to exercise caution in case of incoming (international) telephone calls or suspicious text messages from unknown numbers.

BT&P advises to be on alert for such telephone scams. The following tips can help ward off unwanted calls and scams:

• Don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. Let them go to voicemail.
• If you do answer and the caller (usually a recording) asks you to hit a button to stop receiving calls, hang up immediately. Scammers often use these tricks to identify, and then target respondents.
• If you receive a scam call, write down the number and contact your telephone service provider about blocking the number.

(BT&P publication period: 2017)