Scam alert! Digicel warns Jamaican customers not to return missed calls from overseas numbers
Gavin Riley / Our Today
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Telecommunications company Digicel is alerting Jamaican customers to a growing scheme in which scammers located outside the island are tricking unsuspecting callers to rack up high bills.
Digicel Jamaica, in a public advisory on Saturday afternoon (April 17), urged customers not to return missed calls from these numbers.
“Scammers from overseas are calling random Jamaican numbers hoping that customer will think they missed a call and call back. Do not call back. You could incur high call charges. Screenshot and inbox the numbers to us and we will block them,” the company indicated.
The advisory was shared on Twitter, where Jamaican users were quick to signal Digicel to a growing number of missed calls, particularly from Myanmar.
Local Twitter users also said they missed calls from Nigeria, Albania, parts of the United States and Algeria.
The one-ring call scam phenomenon, common worldwide, is a pesky issue. According to AT&T, which set up a Cyber Aware advisory, Americans have often gotten caught returning missed calls from overseas scammers.
The company said that these short-duration call scams try to trick persons into calling back and racking up unexpected costs.
“Every time you call, you will be charged high international rates or other connection fees. The bad guy gets all or part of those fees,” AT&T explained.
“These scams are also known as ‘Wangiri’, which comes from Japan where the scam originated years ago and means one-ring-and-cut,” the telecoms conglomerate added.
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