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CA warns of ‘missed call’ scam that wipes out your phone’s airtime


The Communication Authority has warned of a return of the Wangiri phone scam and is urging Kenyans who get missed international calls not to call back.

This is how the scam works. You get a call from a foreign number that only rings once. When you call back the number, the scammers wipe out your airtime.

Communication Authority on Thusrday urged all those who receive the missed calls to report the numbers to their operators.

DIALING CODES

“The recent cases of Wangiri scam in Kenya have been reported on various platforms including social media. Most of the calls are reported to bear the following international dialing codes; +41 (Switzerland). +963 (Syria), +252 (Somalia) or +37 (Latvia), among others. The scammers purchase the phone numbers used in the scam from the Dark Web, which is a hidden part of the Internet, known for buying and selling illegal goods and services,” the authority said in a statement.

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Phone scam: This is what happens when you call back that foreign number

The authority urged consumers not to call “back any international number that you don’t recognize. If you happen to be a victim report the number to your service provider so that they can block the number, this stops other users from becoming victims.”

VOICE MACHINE

When Nairobi News called back one of the foreign numbers being used in the scam, our call was redirected to a voice machine.

In one minute, Sh30 had been deducted from our airtime. Much as the Safaricom rates to Somali are Sh30 a minute, our call never yielded any information.