Recently I received a call on my mobile from an unfamiliar Moscow number +74956467231, which is quite strange since I live in Chelyabinsk.

I didn’t pick up the phone and I advise everyone to do the same. My position is very simple. If someone calls me, it means he needs something from me. I don’t need absolutely anything from this caller. So let him go through the forest.

Naturally, if your line of work often requires you to receive calls from unknown subscribers, then this logic does not work.

Who can call? Internet user versions

Googling unknown number phone, you can come across a bunch of review aggregator sites about who is calling from a particular number. Two versions are especially popular among people leaving reviews there.

Bank answering machine

A bank robotic answering machine calls the phone numbers of credit debtors and informs them about the existing debt and the need to repay it. Moreover, it is not necessary that this will be your debt. Perhaps the bank's debtor is one of your relatives or the person who named you as a guarantor for the loan. Or maybe your number ended up on the call list by mistake.

Scammers

The bottom line is that when connected, the call is immediately dropped. The curious subscriber calls back and ends up on a paid line, where they immediately play an audio recording of long beeps. The person thinks that he is still hanging on the call, but money is already being withdrawn from him.

Personally, I highly doubt that this is possible. After all, if everything were so simple, then half of our country would be engaged in such fraud. As far as I know, paid numbers for voice communications do exist, but they work with one limitation - when calling the subscriber, the answering machine is required to notify about the cost of the call and is given a non-chargeable time limit in order to hang up the call.

However, in most cases, judging by the reviews of Internet users, nothing happens at all. When you try to answer, a call from an unknown number is instantly dropped, and if you try to call back, only short beeps are heard. It is unknown who makes such calls and for what purpose, so it is best to simply ignore them and not worry about it all.

What should I do if an unknown number calls me?

They also systematically start bothering me with unknown calls, but since I never answer numbers that do not belong to my connection area, I simply installed a special call blocker on my smartphone.

If the phone old model, then you can put this SIM card in a new device and using the service will be free, but if this is not possible, then each operator also has a Black List service, which means that the operator will block them, but the service is of course paid.

This happens to me too, perhaps if you bought a new SIM card, then this SIM card could belong to someone, and someone decided to call him at your number. If you answer, you can ask where this person got this number, but you can not answer the call at all, but simply add the number to the black list. You can also blacklist a number through your operator's website, but you will usually have to pay a subscription fee to do this.

This means that your number is similar to the number of that same Catherine, and people confuse them because of this. I just find it strange that they have called you like this more than once. Indeed, you can change your number if it really bothers you. But I, too, like BaBkA, am sure that the number could belong to that same Ekaterina and people are calling from old memory. In my practice, when I worked for some time in contact center operator cellular communications, there were such cases. A man turned to me asking for help: he was being harassed by debt collectors, although he didn’t owe anyone anything. It turned out that the ill-fated borrower simply closed the SIM card, and another subscriber bought this number. And the collectors called this number again, not even listening to the explanations of the new owner of that number! In the end, this issue was somehow resolved so that the collectors would fall behind.

Olga, sometimes they call me too. And I also answer. Perhaps people were mistaken. It happens to everyone? But sometimes these people are not wrong. And they start harassing the person with calls. In that case, I go into my office. This refers to operator communications, Beeline, MTS, and so on. And I’m putting this phone on the blacklist for a while. Why, for a while? Firstly, this payable service. Not much of course, like 3 rubles a day. Depends on the connection. But it's not that. The trick here is that this person, so to speak, will dial and call, and in response, like, the subscriber is unavailable. After a while, and I am 100% sure of this, he will get tired of calling and he will stop doing this nonsense. Then turn it off this number. Why shouldn't I pay you for the rest of my life? It turns out to be more expensive. It’s better to change your SIM card then. Well, something like this way out of the situation.

I bought a new SIM card and now sometimes unfamiliar numbers call me and ask for someone named Albert. At first I was surprised, then I realized that apparently the number used to belong to someone named Albert. It’s likely that your SIM card used to belong to a certain Ekaterina, who often receives calls from secret numbers. Operators have a blacklist service, but most often it is paid, but not more than 2 rubles per day

If they call from an unfamiliar number, but the number itself is identified, i.e. numbers are displayed on the mobile screen, then add this number to your contact list, designating it with a name or letter. You can call it, for example, like this: Do not answer. In the future, just don’t answer if they call from this number. From my own experience, I know that after a while the calls will stop. I received several such suspicious numbers, not only from unknown people asking strange questions, but also from representatives of various trading companies who somehow found out my number and often called, offering their services. After I stopped answering incoming calls from such numbers altogether, these people stopped bothering me.

If they call from hidden number, then there are two options: either not answer the call either (but you should take into account that other people can call from a hidden number about some important issues), or accept the call, but immediately stop the conversation after hearing the first question.

Yes, you don’t need to do anything special.

Maybe their phone doesn’t work properly if it’s connected to the wrong place.

Or maybe they are completely drunk.

After all, apart from asking Ekaterina, they don’t say anything.

If you are afraid, for example, that crooks are finding out whether you are at home or not in order to rob your apartment, then, of course, you can contact the police, but they are unlikely to consider your application, because in fact nothing is happening and has not happened.

Don't worry too much in advance.

Today they tried to scam me from that number +79063382855, posing as Sberbank employees!
A woman called, called me by my first name and patronymic and asked if I had made a payment today from a Sberbank card in the amount of 4 thousand 600 rubles. I didn’t have time to use the card today... Then they asked me if I had lost the card?.. maybe I left it at the checkout...? When and where and for what amount did I make payments? Did I transfer the card to other persons...??
I was at a loss. To be honest, I was even confused.., I tried to remember from which card and where I made payments.. At the other end of the line (after achieving my confusion) they assured me that this debit would now be blocked and to continue blocking I would be transferred to the financial (.. or technical?...) department. They turned on the waiting music... (by the way, as for the music... this was the first thing that alerted me! It was somehow different from the melodies that are usually played..))
Then, having introduced himself, the young man joined the dialogue. Further, the questions were once again duplicated in one way or another... they strained my memory about the specific amounts of my payments and the places where I made them... And here, the young man, probably just wasn’t very attentive, and said that from my card trying to transfer money in the amount of 6 thousand 800 rubles! And this is already the fourth attempt today! ….Naturally, no one wants to lose their hard-earned money, and I agree to block the payment! And for this, as I was told, “certain formalities” need to be observed. I need to verify my identity! Now they will send me a five-digit number from number 900, but first I need to provide the sixteen-digit contract number that was given to me when I issued the card (????)... and it is written on the front side of the card (???)...
I think that a sober person, having received an SMS from number 900 with an online login code for Sberbank or a password for registering in it, should be aware that this data SHOULD NEVER be passed on to ANYONE, including Sberbank employees!! ! ... This is what I told my interlocutor. To which he began to very persistently convince me. ..After all, the SMS is from the OFFICIAL SITE!! ...and the SMS data, of course, I should not pass on to third parties, but there are two of us... and we are doing a good deed - we are preventing theft...
...In general, I stopped in time, realizing that I was simply being scammed. I said that I was going to the savings bank, since it was nearby, and I would resolve all the issues there. To which my opponent stated that by interrupting the conversation, I automatically lose money and all my cards are blocked... and I am no longer a client of Sberbank!)))!!! (Kick!!! Apparently I really upset the plans of my interlocutor!))..)
Guys, be careful and don’t fall for scammers! They can be very convincing, they are good psychologists. They put on entire performances to mislead.

And we will reveal the details of some of the top ten popular scams.

Raffle prizes"

Often the draw is carried out allegedly on behalf of well-known radio stations. In this case, the participant in the “game” is invited to purchase express payment cards and provide their code to the “radio host”. The prizes include cars, laptops and mobile phones. For example, scammers acted under the guise of the Europe Plus radio station and the Bee Line telecom operator. At the same time, as representatives of radio stations note, scammers have learned to imitate live broadcasts and speak in well-trained voices. Despite numerous announcements on radio stations that no advance payment is required from radio listeners during the prize draw, calls from affected listeners continue to arrive with the same consistency.

Promotion in the “online store”

According to the victim, it all started in a computer club, where on one of the sales sites cell phones he saw an announcement about a promotion during which he could get a prize - a “sophisticated” mobile phone. The condition for participation in the promotion was the purchase of payment cards telephone communication. Having called the phone number indicated on the website, the young man heard the polite voice of a man who introduced himself as Dmitry.

In order to get a mobile phone, as “Dmitry” explained, you need to buy telephone cards in denominations of 1000 and 5000 rubles, then go to the Finlyandsky Station, where a brand new phone lies in one of the cells. Before telling the gullible young man the cell code, his interlocutor received the PIN codes of the purchased cards. Naturally, the cell did not open, and when dialing “Dmitry’s” phone, only the network operator’s answering machine answered: “Subscriber unavailable.”

Search for a donor

Fake invoice

Any of us can pull out of our mailbox A letter demanding immediate payment of a non-existent debt to the telephone company for the use of a mobile phone. Otherwise, they promise to take the case to court.

In the case known to us, the letter was sent in an MTS company envelope and printed on the company’s letterhead, and the amount of debt indicated in it, which had to be repaid within three weeks, was “32.2820 cu.” It was proposed to pay them in one of the MTS showrooms (there are 36 of them in Moscow and the region) or through a bank using the details specified in the letter. The letter was signed by a “representative of the credit control department” with the surname Al-Qaisi.

But the recipient was never a client of MTS.

The cellular company explained that they receive similar complaints at least twice a month. Another office reported that up to ten people come in every day with refusals to pay “fraudulent” bills. Moreover, the situation is similar, they said, not only in MTS, but also in other large Russian mobile telephone companies.

MTS employees are convinced that fraudsters should be looked for not outside, but inside telephone companies.

However, so far internal checks have led to nothing.

As for the invoice we are describing, it was indeed issued at one of the company’s centers, there is no doubt about the security service. To work with clients throughout the country, MTS enters into agreements with partner firms - dealers. They enter into contracts with subdealers, who recruit staff to work with clients. These personnel do not work for a fixed salary (at best, they receive it at a minimum), but for a percentage of the concluded contracts. Personal interest in the maximum number of contracts leads to illegibility in the means of obtaining them, including through fake contracts.

As a rule, they are imprisoned under a false name under a “one-time “SIM card” reprimand: I talked and threw it away.”

Such “temporary” numbers, issued in other people’s names, can be used, for example, by representatives of criminals. However, there is another option, MTS notes. According to existing rules, without Russian registration, enter into an agreement for the provision of services mobile communications it is forbidden. In this case, unscrupulous employees use other people’s data. The attackers do not think about the fact that the deception will most likely soon be revealed. The logic is simple: grab the maximum while you can, and then whatever happens. People have been taught to think about tomorrow.

To avoid falling for the trick, do not rush to run to pay. If in doubt or a real valid claim, call the company first and find out if you really owe it and how much. Contact the security service and write a statement.

“Most often,” says MTS, “personal data leaks from the telephone companies themselves.” The security service has added to the list of the most likely places of information leakage: currency exchange offices, as well as passport offices of housing authorities and the police. Finally, both note, there is also “Gorbushka”, where disks with complete passport and other data of any Russian citizen are sold cheaply.

Missed calls from an unknown number

If there is a notification about missed calls on your mobile phone screen, do not rush to call back unknown numbers. Therefore, don’t be lazy and enter the widest possible range of your safe contacts into your phone’s phone book.

Such a call can reduce your account by $3 to $15. Fraudsters have learned how to make money using short numbers. The phone number you are asked to call back will most likely look like this: +7-495-ХХХХ123, where ХХХХ is a toll phone number short number, and 123 is an arbitrary set of numbers. Criminals register a company that provides services provided through a mobile phone. Then contracts are concluded with mobile operators; they stipulate that each connection with a short number should cost the client a certain amount, part of which the operator keeps for himself, and part of which is transferred to the provider’s account. Then the robot comes into play, calling cell phone numbers and immediately dropping the call. Software and number databases can be downloaded on the Internet. Such a robot calls more than 17 thousand subscribers per day. If only every 50th person calls back, scammers can earn $3,000 a day on one such device.

There is another scheme. A person registers a short number. Then he purchases several hundred connection kits, inserts the SIM card into his cell phone and calls himself to a short number. There is no money on the card, but sometimes operators allow subscribers to go a little into the minus. The debt remains hanging. And real money comes to the account of the owner of the short number. The cost of one SIM card is 80 rubles, income from each call can reach up to 500 rubles. “I suspect that this method of theft does not occur without someone working in the company helping the scammers. Someone should allow new subscribers to talk negatively,” says Alexey, an employee of one of the cellular operator companies.

TV quiz shows

Another option is to use television. There is a quiz show on one of the UHF channels. The presenter offers to solve a simple problem and get a large sum of money. To take part in the game, you need to call the studio using a short number. The trick is that it is impossible to get through: a pleasant female voice on the phone always says that all lines are busy at the moment and asks to wait. A minute of waiting costs about $2, and after a while you are disconnected. Formally, no one is breaking the law: it is written on the television screen that the fee is charged for the connection, and not for participation in the quiz. And eventually someone gets through to the studio and receives a cash prize. The funds received during the program from the remaining “participants” completely make it possible to recoup both the television broadcast and the prize.

As we were informed by the Moscow Society for the Protection of Consumer Rights, it is almost impossible to prove the fact of such fraud. Regardless of what motivates you to dial the number, formally the call itself from your cell phone to the short number of the provider means that you agree to pay for the “service” provided. The only way save yourself from unnecessary expenses - do not call about prizes and do not call back to unfamiliar numbers.

Punishment

As law enforcement agencies admit, it is quite difficult to catch scammers - methods of fraud are constantly changing, and finding the owners mobile phones, registered with lost passports and dummies, are rarely possible. In this regard, the police advise citizens not to trust “free cheese” and to contact law enforcement agencies if they have any suspicions about the possibility of committing a scam.

Opposition

The main recommendation is not to use the phone according to the principle of the broad Russian soul. Unless your lifestyle involves a flood of phone calls from unfamiliar numbers, be very critical of every call from an unfamiliar number. Wherein:

1. If you left your mobile number at an institution (housing office, tax office, studio, laundry), the call will most likely be from a landline number. By the way, cases of fraud with landline numbers extremely rare. In this case, you can pick up the phone.
2. To calls from strangers mobile numbers try not to answer at all. Knowing about this habit of yours, friends and relatives, if they need to use an unfamiliar number, will first send an SMS with their full signature. If the caller simply got the wrong number or was connected incorrectly, by calling back he will most likely correct the mistake.
3. Do not call back a missed call to any unknown number. Try to find out through friends or the Internet whose number this might be. If, for example, you placed an order in an online store and the courier should call you, ask the store to tell you his/her number in advance.
4. Do not let strangers call from your phone and do not call yourself at their request. Constantly growing number paid numbers does not give you the opportunity to assess the harmlessness or danger of such a call. Remember that in addition to an empty subscriber account, you may be “assisted” in receiving a virus on your phone, which will either regularly steal your money, or make it possible to listen to your conversations, determine your location, or block your phone. In addition, do not forget that calling from your phone is the easiest way to simply find out and record your number.
5. When you receive an SMS from an unfamiliar number, react only if you see the full signature and fully understand what they wanted to tell you.
6. Intending to sell or buy something, or regularly engaging in transactions that require public publication of your telephone number, quite legally, get yourself a temporary card, from the number of which you will NEVER call relatives and friends, but you will talk to strangers ONLY FROM IT. Once you have completed the deal, decisively get rid of it.
7. In all unusual situations listed above or others that go beyond your usual routine, first treat what is happening as a potential scam and try to figure out what you need to do to save money on your phone, the phone itself, and your nerves. It's better to be extra careful than to regret your losses later.

In our news, we will try to report on the emergence of new ways to deceive cell phone owners and ways to combat known types of fraud. To stay updated, subscribe to the RSS feed, follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Since December 24, pensioner Maria began to be woken up at night by calls from unknown numbers. The long numbers had codes from different countries, with which Maria never had any connection. “My daughter looked, it was India, and some islands. The last call was from Germany,” said Maria.

The pensioner is afraid to pick up calls from such numbers and does not call them back:

“I don’t lift. I'm afraid to pick up the phone so that they don't send me a bill for the connection later. My son, daughter, daughter-in-law know my phone number, a couple of other people, the bank.”

And Maria is absolutely right, you should never receive such calls. These are scammers who are counting on you to pick up the phone in the middle of the night or start calling back, and they will write you a huge bill for the connection.

Therefore, the right decision is to report such calls to your mobile operator.

“I called Bite that unknown people were calling me at night. They say nothing, they call others more, 10-11 calls each. You only have three. But the calls continue,” Maria complained to Our Topic.

“Most often, those who are trying to make money from this dishonest business, they spontaneously generate these numbers and start making calls to them, and there are times when such a problem periodically exists,” Oksana, head of the customer service department at Bite Latvia, explained to TV5 Stankevich.

Such outbursts of calls can be instantaneous and spontaneous. In such a situation, even competitors begin to cooperate to overcome this wave.

“Last year there was a huge wave when a huge number of calls were made to customers of all operators at night.

The next morning we worked together, trying to identify where these calls came from and how to stop it all,” Stankevich said.

“We and all countries have regulators that shut down such operators. They re-register, start over, start working with different numbers. All operators are fighting against them,” said Janis Lelis, executive director of the Latvian Telecommunications Association.

There is only one defense against such attacks on your telephone bills - as Maria does right, ignore any such calls.

“In any case, the solution is the same - if a person doesn’t recognize the number, picks up the phone, and there’s nothing there, then there’s no need to call back,” Stankevich pointed out.

“These are the signs that you don’t know who the call came from, the first factor to think about is who is calling me.

They often call and hang up. In this case, they are waiting for you to call back."

Lelis explained.

If you still decide to call back to a number unknown to you, even if it is local,

first try to find out who it is.

Well, if you have relatives abroad, then everything is simple - study their numbers. However, if you fell for such a call and called back or answered, then the bill will still have to be paid.

“These calls can cost more than 5 lats per minute. There is no profit for us here; we need to pay those operators, even if we know that they are scammers. You still have to pay, because it’s difficult to prove anything with the help of the police. Therefore, we hope for customers to be vigilant and do not advise calling unknown numbers,” Oksana Stankevich, head of the Bite Latvia customer service department, told TV5.

Probably, the numbers that were disturbing pensioner Maria have already been blocked. “Our Tema” tried to call them back, but it was not possible. But for Maria there is only one way out - put the phone on silent mode at night and wait a couple more weeks. Then the scammers themselves will fall behind.

“They will do this for the first month until the bill arrives, so that you don’t know how much you said there. Afterwards, the scammers usually switch to new victims,” Lelis noted.