International phone scams are on the rise and increasingly sophisticated.Credit:Getty Images
"It's a bit like playing whack-a-mole,"says Fiona Cameron,chair of the Scam Technology Project at the Australian Communications and Media Authority. The wangiri scam,she explains,makes money from the small percentage of people who call these numbers back,only to be put on hold or greeted with music or a horoscope reading,all designed to keep them on the line for as long as possible.
The person calling back is routed through a premium 1900-like number and a hefty percentage of that charge is passed on to the scammer from your service provider.
The bad news,adds Cameron,is that once they have your number – usually bought through the dark web or from marketing data banks – you'll be target practice for"robocalls"."Wangiri is just one of many scams,some of which are far more sophisticated,"she warns.
Fiona Cameron,chair of the Scam Technology Project at the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
"Scammers call you,pretending to be from the Tax Office or from your bank,and ask you for personal details to commit identity fraud."Last year,according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission website Scamwatch,Australians were cheated out of half a billion dollars.
In the US,where robocalls now represent more than half of all mobile phone traffic,according to the Federal Communications Commission,phone carriers are about to roll out a James Bond-esque protocol called Shaken/Stir that verifies the authenticity of calls.
It's a technology that could also be used in Australia in the future,says Cameron. In the meantime,she has one piece of advice:"Don't call back any suspicious numbers."
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