
One-Ring Phone Scam on the Rise - d4vlx
http://concord.bbb.org/article/one-ring-phone-scam-on-the-rise-45629
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throwaway420
You should Google unknown phone numbers before calling them, because there are
a lot of shady people out there. This isn't guaranteed protection, but a lot
of times if they're a habitual scammer, their number will show up on Mr.
Number, Dirtyphonebook, 800notes, or other similar sites with some info about
them.

You'll be amazed at how spammers operate and how often they succeed. I tried
to warn my father about answering unknown numbers, but he was one of the ones
stupid enough to fall for the "Microsoft called me to fix my computer" scam.
(the only reason it didn't work is that he couldn't figure out their
instructions to give them his credit card, but he was trying to) :(

~~~
pstack
My aunt did this, too. Not a stupid person, either. A doctor.

She believed that the indian on the phone was from Microsoft and somehow
detected that her computer (and every other computer in the house, including
the 27" iMac I bought my mom for mother's day) were infected. They pinched her
for $250 bucks per machine ($750 total). Gave them her credit card number. Let
them install shit on the machines. Everything.

Even after I called her and explained to her what just happened, she took a
ton of persuading to cancel her credit card (I don't even know if she ever did
that), because she was STILL worried that despite what I (a software engineer
of two decades) told her, it "might still be legitimate".

Also, who calls back numbers they don't recognize? If you're a number I don't
recognize and you don't leave a voicemail, then fuck you!

~~~
larrywright
I've gotten two of these calls. I tell them I don't have any Windows
computers, only Macs. They stutter for a minute and then hang up on me.

~~~
girvo
I dragged one along for 15 minutes trying to "follow" his instructions, before
confessing it was an Ubuntu laptop. He told me "go f __* yourself, and your
mother is a whore! " and hung up on me. Made me giggle :)

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Killah911
BBB's mobile website strategy is hopelessly broken, I'm on my iPhone & can see
the post for a second before it redirects me to this minimalist web UI home
page... Just leaving the standard site as is would've been a better UX
strategy

~~~
alecsmart1
This is pathetic. I can't read the article at all on mobile.

~~~
nostromo
Concord, NH (January 30, 2014) - Consumers around the country report an
increasing number of what is known as the "One-Ring Phone Scam." Perpetrators
of this scam program their computers to blast out thousands of calls to random
cell phone numbers, ring once, and then disconnect.

This scam relies on consumers calling back missed calls, which then connect
them to a paid international adult entertainment service, 'chat' line, or
other premium service located outside the country.

Victims who return the call are billed a $19.95 international call fee, along
with per minute charges for the unwanted "premium service," which can be $9
per minute or more. In some cases, the scammers may only put through a small
charge of several dollars, so it won't arouse suspicion.

Calls typically originate from outside the United States. One woman told BBB
her caller ID indicated the call originated in Antigua or Barbuda (area code
268). Other consumers across the country report calls from the Dominican
Republic (809), Jamaica (876), British Virgin Islands (284) and Grenada (473).

The practice of third parties placing unauthorized charges on wireless
accounts is called "cramming." The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) have reviewed thousands of complaints about
the practice, and expect the problem to grow.

Better Business Bureau recommends if you don't recognize an out-of-state
telephone number on your caller ID, ignore it and if you do answer, do not
call back. Also you should check your cell phone bills carefully and inform
your carrier if you spot any unauthorized charges. The earlier you document
the fraud, the better your chances of having some or all of the charges
removed.

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espinchi
For Android phones, there are caller ID applications (built-in in Google
KitKat, or third-party apps like Contactive or Truecaller) that recognize
telemarketers and scam callers with reasonable accuracy.

Sure, this has its fair share of privacy concerns.

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username223
Interesting. I just got a call from 268-762-0013 today. I did what I usually
do with numbers I don't recognize -- ignore it and look up the area code --
and figured it was some kind of scam when I saw it was from Barbados. But it's
nice to know why they hung up after one ring.

~~~
jonheller
Same here. Was very surprised to happen upon this article explaining it.

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leobelle
Isn't there any way to tell the telephone provider you never want to connect
to a pay for service so they just wont let the call go through?

~~~
dredmorbius
Features that have made me hate my phone:

• Excessively high monthly fees.

• NSA / PRISM and other forms of surveillance.

• Lack of a "capped service cost" plan (mitigated somewhat by monthly pre-paid
service).

• Contracts.

• Lack of built-in call screening. I'd like to be able to 1) classify contacts
by group, and 2) specify what group(s) can ring through, at what time(s)
and/or locations.

• Visual voicemail by default. Without invoking another data surveillance
provider.

• Lack of / painfulness of disabling add-on / additional fee services. My
phone is not a marketplace and never fucking will be.

Honestly? I've all but given up on the idea of telephony at all. Give me email
(with all its warts) or postal mail. At least the people who want to reach me
have to put some effort (and cost) into it. VOIP over computer or tablet
should fully replace telco phone service in fairly short order.

~~~
jdhendrickson
" Lack of built-in call screening. I'd like to be able to 1) classify contacts
by group, and 2) specify what group(s) can ring through, at what time(s)
and/or locations."

This is possible with Google Voice just fyi.

~~~
dredmorbius
Violates the next condition.

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DerekL
If I don't recognize the number and they didn't leave a message, I won't call
them back. It's probably just a telemarketer or someone else I don't want to
talk to.

~~~
__david__
More than that, if I get unknown numbers that don't leave message then they go
onto right onto my blocklist.

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Houshalter
I blame the phone company. Absurd that you can be secretly billed just for
calling a number back.

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FollowSteph3
Article is redirected on mobile to generic home page...

~~~
eloff
That website is horrible. Completely unusable from mobile.

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unclebucknasty
Awesome. Now, if we could only get the BBB to put out a scam warning on
itself.

~~~
cglace
Can you explain?

~~~
tptacek
A lot of people consider the BBB a protection racket. Businesses pay the BBB
to ensure that they have a good "rating", no matter their actual business
practices.

~~~
unclebucknasty
Yes, this. How can they objectively rate businesses that are paying them?

But, they go even further. That is, they will collect complaints, etc. and
give the business a bad rating if the business does not respond using the
BBB's system. So, even if the business is legit and has worked earnestly to
resolve customer issues, they must add value to the BBB scheme (and thus also
reinforce the BBB's perceived "legitimacy"), otherwise risk their own
reputation.

In fact, we received our first complaint after several years in business and
they opened a "file" on us. We then received threatening letters from the BBB
indicating that we had a window in which to respond, else receive a negative
rating. Worse, even before we had a chance to respond, they'd already given us
a C-minus; citing as the reason that they did not have enough info on our
company. Why not a more neutral C? Better still, why not a "no-rating",
indicating the actual truth that they'd acknowledged: they didn't yet have
enough info to rate us? Why, instead use their qualitative scale to
misrepresent us as somehow subpar? Again, they want you to submit more
information and respond on _their_ terms, thereby increasing value for them.
It's the perfect racket.

Worse, most people think the BBB are the good guys and many actually believe
they are government-affiliated. So, they effectively use their own reputation
against companies (many of which are lesser known small businesses) to force
them to add value to the BBB's own scheme or outright pay them. It really is a
racket and should be illegal.

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userbinator
> Calls typically originate from outside the United States

It surprises me why someone would ever call back a long-distance number they
didn't recognise. Sure, the Internet has made long-distance communication seem
like it doesn't cost any more than local, but that doesn't mean the same rules
apply to more traditional phones.

~~~
mikeash
I have no concept of "long distance" anymore. Neither my cell phone nor my
"land line" (actually a VoIP box) care where in the country the destination
number is, it all costs the same (minutes for the cell phone, nothing for the
land line).

The trick here is that these are numbers that appear to be American but are
actually international. That's a whole different level beyond "long distance"
and people would generally not call those without checking, but it's not well
known that there are certain area codes that are mapped to other countries
entirely.

~~~
mindslight
The numbers _are_ American. North American. From the NANP :P

~~~
danellis
They're not American in the same way that Canadian numbers are international
and not American.

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jemeshsu
Normally when I receive scam-sounding calls especially from foreign country
unknown number, I'll just tell them I'm a casket shop and ask them how many
coffins he/she wants to order. And then hear their screaming/scolding at the
other end.

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wzy
I live in one of the countries mentioned in the article and people living here
normally get these calls from European or African numbers. We also report
these calls to our version of BBB and telecom providers. You get a call,
answer it, the line cuts off, you call back the number, your credit finishes.
Normally its just elderly folks who get caught by these calls

Don't call back strange numbers

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darren0
This scam is particarily annoying on the iPhone. They call and hang up so it
shows as a missed call on the lock screen. If you are not careful when you
unlock the phone and you swipe where the phone number is, it immediately dials
back. I absolutely hate that functionality of iOS 7.

~~~
__david__
I love that functionality myself, but I have the opposite problem—too often
I'm trying to swipe a text or phone call and instead it just unlocks. Maybe we
should trade phones. Or fingers.

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oinksoft
I was wondering what these phone calls were on my landline, it seemed like a
buggy robo-caller. Amazing that just dialing a number can cost $20.

~~~
mikeash
Now that I think about it, given that it's 2014 and smartphones are ubiquitous
and free calls are the norm and so forth, it's amazing that there isn't a
standard screen that pops up before making any paid call asking to confirm the
cost. "Calling this number will cost $3/minute. Do you wish to proceed?"

Of course, such a thing could only cost carriers revenue, so why would they
ever do it....

~~~
noyesno
In the mobile domain (under the 3GPP standard), there is something called
"Advice of Charge" that would give such functionality but most carriers do not
deploy it unless local regulations demand it.

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ryen
What a coincidence, just received a one-ring call from a Grenada number (473
area code) a few minutes ago.

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PhasmaFelis
Who calls _back_ on an unrecognized number with no message left? That's
bizarre.

~~~
PhearTheCeal
I recently did a job interview and I'm waiting for a call. So, honestly, I
might call back if this happened to me.

~~~
nmodu
Yea, this is probably when [otherwise cautious] people are most susceptible to
falling for these scams.

When applying for jobs, there is nothing more irritating than seeing a missed
call, getting excited/anxious, and calling back...a #%*@^ telemarketer. On the
flip side, I briefly forget that I am unemployed, since all I think about for
the next 5 minutes is inflicting the most sadistic forms of torture on every
telemarketer that has ever lived.

Seriously though, googling unknown numbers does help.

