Jamaican police and mobile phone companies have been placed on high alert as a result of the emergence of a telephone scam over the past weekend. According to the police the scam, referred to as the “One Ring” scam, originating from Japan – involves a computer dialing a large number
According to the police the scam, referred to as the “One Ring” scam, originating from Japan – involves a computer dialing a large number of mobile phone numbers at random.
The numbers appear as missed calls on the recipients’ phones.
If the recipient returns the call, they are then charged a premium rate.
In the wake of the scam, Jamaican Technology Minister Dr. Andrew Wheatley says international organizations have been contacted as the authorities work towards a solution.
The scam has resulted in the local company, Digicel, blocking some overseas phone numbers. In a release on Sunday, the company said it is monitoring the situation and advised its customers to be on alert and not to return one ring calls from unfamiliar country area codes that could result in hefty charges.
Digicel says in the event that customers receive these calls they should hang up quickly and not share personal information.
Digicel’s competing telecommunications provider – FLOW said it has activated its Anti-Fraud Team and will be blocking numbers which are found to be involved in the phone scam.
