[Angie10]

I hope I'm posting in the right section. If not, admin, please feel free to move it to the right section

I just thought I'd warn you guys about the Wangiri phone scam that's apparently rearing it's ugly head again. I had never heard of it or experienced it before, so some of you may have. But basically, yesterday my husband and I started getting these weird missed calls from Papua New Guinea of all places! Luckily, we just ignored them. Turns out many other people in Botswana and South Africa have been receiving them since last week!

Here's what you need to know about these pesky calls:

Phone users miss calls that then cost big bucks to call back.

The calls come from places such as Papua New Guinea, Chad, Russia etc.


What is a 'Wangiri' scam?

The scammer pretends to be a mobile phone network in another country, so any mobile users making calls to a number based in that "country" will be charged a fee, usually a high one.



What should you do if you get cold-called?

DO NOT answer or call the number back. If the call is coming in to your phone, let it go to voicemail and then delete any record.

The scammers aparently make their money when you call them back as the caller is charged a connection fee.

Have any of you had this sort of thing happen to you? Hope for those who aren't aware of this, this proves helpful.

[DudeThatsErin]

Thanks for sharing this! I hope more people are able to read this and save tons of money.

[bestwriter]

That is a good warning. Thanks for the alert. I have not so far got any such calls and will be on the lookout.

[Angie10]

Apparently, a lot of people lose money to this scam every year. What made us panic even more, was right after one of many calls my husband's phone went dead and his computer didn't recognise it. It wouldn't switch back on for quite a while. We thought it was connected to the scam, only to find out later that the phone actually needed an update!

[ladyninja]

Oh my word Angie, this so so true. I live in South Africa and we keep getting cautionary messages from CellC asking people not to answer calls from unknown international numbers. The things people do for money.

[Angie10]

Oh wow, ladyninja, I had no idea you lived so close to me LOL I have to say it was truly scary because I'd never heard of it before. Luckily for us, it seems to have stopped! Is it still ongoing in SA? I'm glad I'm now aware of it because I won't be as spooked next time it happens and I'll know how to handle it!These crooks will try anything, I tell you!