September 6, 2019

ONE-RING PHONE SCAM

Here is the scenario:

Your cell phone rings, but—before you can answer—the caller hangs up. You might be tempting to call the person back. But With the “One-Ring” phone scam, you could find yourself with an unexpected phone bill for hundreds of dollars.

The scammer’s goal is simple: get the victim to call them back and then keep the caller on the line for as long as possible. To do this, scammers may call back several times and hang up after a single ring.

Once a victim calls back, fraudsters keep the victim on the line by claiming they won a prize or that a loved one has a special message for them. Regardless of the pretense, the result of the One-Ring scam is always the same: victims end up with major charges on their phone bills, which profit the scammer.

The price of a One-Ring phone scam can quickly add up, and consumers rarely know they have been scammed until they receive their phone bill. Fortunately, there are several tips that can help protect you  from this resurging scam:

*Don’t answer or return phone calls from numbers you don’t recognize. If you don’t recognize a number, let the call go to your voicemail. If it is something important, they will leave a message. 

*Don’t trust Caller ID. Scammers know how to spoof your Caller ID so it appears that they are calling from your neighborhood. Similarly, many scammers strategically locate their operations in countries like the Bahamas that have international calling codes like “242,” which may appear to be American. 

*Block outgoing international phone calls. If you do not regularly make international phone calls, consider asking your telephone company to block outgoing international calls on your line. 

*Always closely monitor your phone bill for surprise charges. If you spot a suspicious charge, contact your phone company immediately to dispute it. This will not only potentially save you money, but it will also help your provider spot fraud and protect customers from future scams. 

Have you been a victim of the One-Ring phone scam? Have you received several calls from someone who hangs up after one or two rings? We want to know! You can file a complaint at Fraud.org via our secure online complaint form. We’ll share your complaint with our network of more than 90 law enforcement and consumer protection agency partners who can and do put fraudsters behind bars.

Attb: fraud.org