Vodafone UK Blocking Wangiri International Missed Call Fraud

Mobile operator Vodafone has announced that “where possible” they are now trying to block international Wangiri scam calls before they even reach users. On top of that they’re also pledging to “reimburse any victim who has incurred a charge” as a result of calling such a number.

The Wangiri (Japanese for “one ring and cut“) scam is both deceptively simple and sadly very effective. Essentially the fraudster calls a mobile number at random but only gives one or two rings before ending the attempt, which is designed to prompt the receiver (i.e. you) into calling the number back in order to check who was calling. But if you call back then you do so on a premium international number (profits for the fraudster).

Vodafone are now actively blocking any numbers known to be associated with Wangiri, although since the numbers are always changing then it’s likely that some end-users will still end up getting hit (hence the pledge to reimburse those affected).

Nick Jeffery, Vodafone UK Chief Executive, said:

“The message we’re sending to criminal gangs behind the Wangiri scam is don’t call our customers. We are determined to do what we can to stamp out fraudulent practices, whether it is false PPI calls or bogus accident claim calls coming from the UK or international phone rackets. We will also continue to share our intelligence with other mobile companies so we can act as one.”

The operator added that if customers do receive any unwanted calls they should report them to the operator by simply texting CALL to 7726 free of charge from their Vodafone phone. “We’ll reply by text to ask you for the phone number you’re receiving the nuisance calls from,” said Vodafone.

Rival operator Three UK recently put out a similar warning about the Wangiri scam (here).