The one-ring phone scam is back and targeting cellphones across Canada.
Fraudsters behind the one-ring scam (also known as a Wangirl scam) place calls that appear to come from overseas and then hang up quickly. When victims try and return the calls, they may end up agreeing to charges that later appear on their monthly phone bills.
The charges are very similar to the ones you might get for calling a 1-900 number, CTV News reports. A victim often ends up charged for connecting to the call and for every minute they're on the line.
So what can you do? Rogers Communications is aware of the scam and advises customers to not answer or return calls from unfamiliar numbers.
"If you receive a call from an unknown international number that disconnects immediately, it could be part of a worldwide scam ... Please do not call the number back," the RogersHelps account tweeted yesterday.
It's also a good idea to always check your phone bill for unusual or unexpected charges.
To our customers - if you receive a call from an unknown international number that disconnects immediately, it could be part of a worldwide scam known as Wangiri fraud. Please do not call the number back.
— RogersHelps (@RogersHelps) February 13, 2018
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like blocking a number is the best solution here, since some people may receive similar calls from multiple phone numbers, CTV reports.
And if all that wasn't enough, this news comes just days after the Toronto Police Service warned the public about an ongoing phone scam targeting landline phones.
They're back. I think this is an old scam scheme, because since years ago, I have read many reports filed regarding these one ring scams at sites like http://whycall.me anf another similar sites. People need to know about this, and keep spreading the word, at least to family.