Posted on 02/08/2014 7:23:43 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
This scam is being reported by Tech Crunch and we wanted to make our readers aware of it.
The scam, simplified: They call you, but immediately hang up. You see a missed call. You call back. They charge you for the call, and for each minute they can keep you on the line.
According to the BBB, this so-called “One Ring” scam is on the rise.
Like many a ruse, this one relies on hitting many, many potential targets at once. The scammer sets up a computer to call thousands of numbers per hour — because for every 99 people who follow their gut and don’t call weird numbers, there’s 1 person who will. Maybe they’re waiting for response on a job interview, and don’t know what number it’ll come from. Maybe they’re hoping it’s that girl from the bar last night. Maybe the number just looks kind of familiar. It’s all about making mass sweeps and finding the exceptions.
The trick? They only let the call ring once before it automatically hangs up. One ring is enough for the number to show up on your missed call screen, but just short enough that you’re not likely to answer it in time (which keeps the call from fully connecting and thus keeps the scammer from having to front for any long distance fees.)
Speaking of long distance fees: the number it’s dialing from is, generally, one from outside of the US — but one that has the same country code (+1, which we share with Canada and almost all of the Caribbean nations, from the Bahamas to Jamaica), and thus looks a whole lotlike a US number. On US premium numbers, the FTC requires the caller to explicitly agree to charges. On international numbers, the FTC has no jurisdiction.
We’ve seen tricks like this before, using many of the same basic concepts —the sneaky international number, the hook to get you to call it back. A few years ago, a common scam technique was to text someone saying “Your [relative here] is hurt, and you are the emergency contact! Call [sneaky international number here] for more information.”
But this is the first time I’ve seen them boil it down to a simple missed call. It plays on the ubiquity of smartphones, and that… no one really calls each other anymore. If someone is calling, it’s probably important, right? Better call’em back!
While reports on scams like this tend to warn you that you’ll be charged a zillion dollars per second, that’s… usually not the case, in reality. Carriers will often void the charges if they/you catch them, so the scammer’s goal is often to keep anyone from noticing the charge. They’ll charge you a few bucks to establish the call, then a few bucks for each minute they keep you on hold/on the line.
To read more about this scam, head over to techcrunch for the details.
PING!
We were getting lots of it, but it has stopped, at least for now.
Calls are from Antigue/Barbados
No worries if you have an Obamaphone.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
My son almost got scammed by this. He was waiting for a call from me. His phone rang once. He almost called it back but at the last minute noticed the area code. Smart kid.
Wht if someone answers, does it still hang up?
I was getting them too. I called my provider (Verizon) ans asked if I cold block anything from the area code (I think it was 268) and they said no. I told them I couldn’t be responsible if my phone butt-dialed it (as the damned thing likes to do on occasion). They said that they would “review policy” which I interpret as mollify me until I’m on the hook.
I hate cellphones.
How do they actually get money from you? Is it an actual phone company in another country that’s doing the scam? I don’t see the billing connection here.
I never answer the phone unless I recognize the number. Unknown callers almost never leave a message.
I don’t call back and that includes people I know.
Somebody tell me what’s in it for the scammers. I’ve gotten two hang up calls from area code 268. If I call that number back, Verizon makes money, not the scammer. Unless Verizon is the scammer.
Sony makes a phone which allows blocking of any LD area codes
Unless they leave a message with what they want, and what they want is something I want too, neither do I.
If I don’t recognize a number, I never pick up. Ever.
The number you call is like a 900 number which bills your phone for every minute you're on the line.
Thanks!
I don’t understand this. If the scammers get you to call back, then your own phone company will bill you, so where do the scammers make money from it?
Seriously.
I have only a cell phone. I give my number to very few people and while I know that it’s certainly been compromised it’s not nearly to the point of a listed land line. One ring call? Who returns a one-ring call to a number they don’t recognize? Who returns a call to someone who didn’t leave at least a short message regarding what this call was about? Missed calls with no message get no return from me. Why do it?
They have one of those pay numbers... like the psychic lines, or sex lines, etc. You call the number and you're billed automaticly, and their phone company gives the line's owner some percentage of the take.
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