Beware mobile scam from 0290165617

I ignore missed calls for the above reason.

I also have voice-mail switched off on my phone. – If people *really* need to speak with you they will contact you again, or by other means.

I had something similar to this happen on my land line this afternoon. I ‘won a fully paid trip to the Carribean’ said the American accent on the recorded message before I hung up. I reported it to Telstra and made sure to say I wasn’t paying if it shows up on the bill.

Thanks Adza. I’ve made reported the suspected scam to Scam Watch. Hopefully the number I called didn’t redirect without my knowledge to one of those 190 numbers.

The main thing Adza is you have to then call the 1900 number which will be a premium call. Just dialing the normal number back you cannot be charged, except for normal call costs.

These are a long standing scams which ACMA and ACCC have been unable to stop. Technically it’s not illegal to do this.

What happens is an autodialler runs through mobile numbers, dials the number then hangs up just as it’s connected. As a result, your mobile starts to register the call, but not enough to actually ring. People see a missed call and then see the number.

Wehn ringing the number back, you get a pre-recorded message saying “congratulations… blah blah blah, ring this number to claim, or to enter… 1900…..”. According to Scamwatch, sometimes they are redirected to 1900 numbers and you somehow foot the bill.

Have a read of this: http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/693789

I had this happen agesssss ago. I choose to google numbers of missed calls, especially interstate numbers or if i’m not expecting a call, as I did when this happened to me. MY mobile number is now on the do not call register and haven’t had any problems.

I had this in the past (didn’t call back though, but found the number on google), a friend remarked to me the phone companies told them they can’t do anything, can’t block numbers etc…

Report this to ACMA – Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Alternatively if you are being called by tele-marketers and the DO NOT CALL register seems ineffective you can always try this approach: http://community.livejournal.com/melbournemaniac/2225386.html

I actually had a call I think from this mob the other day and managed to answer the phone in time but as soon as I heard the pre-recorded rubbish I just hung up. First spam/telemarketer call I’ve had on my mobile.