What is Wangiri fraud?

We’ve been hearing the term Wangiri fraud thrown around lately, and thought it merited a post to explain what exactly it means.

Wangiri, in Japanese, means “one-and-cut.” That is, one ring and a cut off the phone call. A wangiri phone fraud scheme relies on this single ring method for a quick way to make money. It works like this:

  1. A fraudster sets up a computer to dial a large number of phone numbers at random. Each rings just once, then hangs up.
  2. This leaves a number as a missed call on each recipients’ phone.
  3. Subscribers see the missed call and believe a legitimate call was cut off, or are simply curious as to who called. So they dial the missed number.
  4. The number turns out to be a premium rate number—anything from advertising, to “free prizes,” to sex services.

This particular flavor of phone fraud originated in Japan, where it has proved to be a major irritation. Since then, it has gradually spread to other fraudsters around the world.

TransNexus ClearIP and NexOSS software products each can detect and prevent Wangiri calls in your network. Contact us to learn more.

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