Wangiri Fraud alert: Do not return the call/SMS from odd numbers

Assalamualaikum..

Received this yesterday from my telco service provider, DiGi - Always the Smarter Choice. It's an alert for the recent Wangiri Fraud trend. From Wikipedia, Wangiri is phone fraud originated from Japan. Literally it means "One (ring) and cut". The bait here is actually our curiosity. "Who's calling me from International number?" "Could it be an important call?" We are enticed to call back.

Bahaya okay. Heard it may incur charges sampai beratus ringgit! Apa yang pasti, kalau tak kenal number pelik-pelik yang missed call kita jangan return call. Especially number yang pre-fix macam dalam SMS tu..881, 371 and etc. I asked my fren who works in DiGi she said mostly yang kena number 881. So DiGi is doing their part to send out alert to all customers.

Some useful info for all of us. I got this from Verizon.com

How it works: A fraudster generates a large number of telephone calls, targeting one or multiple parties. Each call terminates after one ring, leaving the calling party number on the recipient’s caller ID display. The called party sees the missed call, and out of curiosity calls the number back. However, the number being called is actually a premium-rate number, and the caller is billed a hefty charge on his phone bill.

How to protect yourself: If you do not recognize the phone number or area/country code in your recent call list or on your display screen, do not call the number back.