Local mobile service providers have warned Kenyans against falling prey to an international call scam, where mobile phone users are fleeced of their money by fraudsters.
The warning comes following increased complaints by Kenyans, who have received the calls. In the scam, mobile users usually receive missed calls from unknown international numbers, most of them bearing prefixes +41 (Switzerland), +963 (Syria), +252 (Somalia), and +37 (Latvia).
Once a users returns the international calls, they are redirected to premium numbers that drain lines of credit, unknowingly. The longer one spends on the call, the more cash the fraudsters make.
The scam has been baptised “wangiri” because the phone rings only once and has been witnessed in other parts of the world, including in Europe and the United States (US).
“The Wangiri Fraud sees scam artists use phone numbers bought on the dark web (where criminals trade in illegal goods and services) to dial phone users in other countries and then immediately disconnect the calls to them,” a report titled Wangiri fraud done in Ireland says.
“The aim of the scam is to encourage those who see a missed call on their phone to ring the number, after which they will be ripped off,” it further states.
Telecommunications firms, Safaricom and Telkom Kenya have warned their customers against calling back in case they receive missed calls from international numbers bearing the above codes.
“We have advised our customers to ignore these calls and to avoid returning any missed calls from unknown international numbers,” said Telkom Kenya.
Safaricom has asked customers to report the international calls by forwarding the numbers to 333, a short-code where customers report incidents of fraud.
The said information is true…
The said information is true. I ever seen a call from +41 but i assumed and I never knew well if it could be how I have so far heard, I thank God I never fell to that.
Been once called the whole…
Been once called the whole day+213
Been once called the whole…
Been once called the whole day+213
That is true…. I have…
That is true…. I have proved that myself…. even I have saved one of the contacts in my phone…. I have been receiving regular calls (flashings) from that no..
Those people are to be…
Those people are to be arrested,, and we are waiting to hear what next,,, last year they, disturbed my grandfather alot,, once they flash,, my grandfather called back,, immidiately they snatched credit,,
@Stephen musungu and others…
@Stephen musungu and others like you, you have ONLY yourself to blame. How damn can you be to call back a number with a country code which you don’t know nor know anyone with a phone with such country code? The greed of expecting manna from nowhere is the sole reason why fraudsters steal money from greedy fools who think that there are shortcut to riches. Remember the old saying that, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride!!!!”
Anonymous tell them coz this…
Anonymous tell them coz this diaspora educated first class thinkers don’t get it???Its easy don’t pick it up or don’t return the missed call.So Simple?Personally I have names numbers of pple who calls me n trust me I don’t take numbers which don’t show the name.I will return the call if somebody leaves the message.
no you idiot. the number is…
no you idiot. the number is blacklisted from calling into the network so the fraudsters can’t use it anymore
Kindly announce this to all…
Kindly announce this to all media houses, including mulembe FM.
if we report them to…
if we report them to safaricom froud what next? will they apprehend them?
Now that you ask, personally…
Now that you ask, personally I feel like Safcom staff or ex-staff are involved in some of the local Mpesa scams that happen here. How can a scammer con several people on dubious deals and all safcom says is that they have already withdrawn the funds? Same number is reported over and over but nothing happens? The number is still left operational. As much as I made a mistake paying for a service/goods before I received them, (whether in full or in part), does not mean that the scammer was right to con me of the same. Yes, I paid for it, but then I didn’t get the service. SAFARICOM IS PART OF THE PROBLEM.
Iam with you here@Faiya. The…
Iam with you here@Faiya. The safcom ex or present staff has to be in on this or how else would the faudsters collect their illgotten loot?
I got this missed calls…
I got this missed calls twice same day from different codes on 27th Dec and when I called one of the numbers my airtime was drained in seconds.
Dammm where r the holier n…
Dammm where r the holier n thou Kenyans diaspora refungees who always talk shit about corruption in their home country n as we can see the corruption from USA,Europe is on stealing from Africans???