Missed call scam targets mobile users

PETALING JAYA: If you receive a missed call from any number beginning with +375, +371 and +081, do not call back.

Police have detected a new “missed call” scam that preys on mobile phone users.

The scam works by giving mob­ile phone users a missed call using the international number.

When a user calls back, he or she will be hit with hefty phone charges.

Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Comm Datuk Syed Ismail Syed Azizan said his department was aware of the scam.

“Based on our initial investigations, mobile phone users will receive a missed-call from [phone], [phone] and other international phone numbers beginning with +375, +371 and +081.

“When the person calls the number back, they are charged with hefty rates,” he told The Star.

Premium Rate Service is a telephone service that provides recorded information or live conversation for callers.

Callers will only realise they have been slapped with the hefty charges when they get their monthly phone bills.

He said that although there had not been any police reports lodged, his department would investigate the matter further.

“We are trying to establish if the scam is conducted by foreign or local syndicates,” he said, advising users not to return calls to phone numbers that are not familiar.

In Ireland, the country’s Communications Regulator has warned consumers to be careful about returning apparent missed calls on their mobile phones.

They received missed calls from a 086 number, but when they returned the call they were connected to a premium rate service that appears to be based in Slovenia.