The directorate of criminal investigation has warned the public over an international con scam as referred to as’ Wangiri fraud
According to DCI it entails receiving missed calls from international numbers you don’t recognize on mobile /fixed line phone.
The fraudsters generating the calls hope that their expensive international numbers will be called back so that they can benefit.
What’s the meaning of wangiri?
The term wangiri is a Japanese word for ‘’one [ring]and cut’’.
It’s a genuinely international scam with victims distributed across the world.
Warnings about the scam have appeared in Kenya, the U.K, Canadian, Irish, and New Zealand media among others
The aim of the of the scam is to encourage those who get a missed call to ring the number, after which they will be ripped off as the call is re-routed to premium rate number overseas and will be subsequently billed exorbitant sums for listening to pre- recorded messages
What you should do?
If you receive calls like this, be assured that you haven’t been specifically targeted. It’s likely that the fraudster has generated a missed call to a whole range of mobile numbers that happens to include yours.
Don’t return calls to international numbers that you don’t recognize.
Calls to wangiri numbers will always result in a charge being incurred and encourage the fraudsters to generate more calls to customers who chose to call back
The DCI further advises that if the worst happens and you return the the Wangiri call you should contact your mobile service provider explain the situation and help them block some of the numbers.
