Persistent phone scammers getting increasingly inventive

People are becoming increasingly sick and tired of what seems to be wave after wave of scam phone calls besieging their mobile phones on a regular basis.

Prompting regular complaints among Westmeath social media users, the pattern is familiar: a seemingly benign number dials your phone, and when you answer, you are directed to an automated switch claiming to be operated by the Department of Social Protection.

Some phone users have been snared by the scam, in which the unsuspecting victims are alarmed by an automated message which tells them, among other things, that a warrant is out for their arrest. You are told to dial a number to get through to an operator, and invariably, scammers at the other end of the line then try to get your bank details, PINs and passwords, ostensibly to prevent your arrest.

The criminals running this annoying but potentially damaging enterprise appear to be working their way through lists of numbers. People are advised to adhere strictly to the guidelines: if you answer the call, hang up and don’t follow any instructions, and under no circumstances part with any private information.

This writer’s phone started buzzing at the behest of the scammers last week, and I got a taste for just how sophisticated the criminal scheme is. The first thing I noticed is that the number dialling my phone was vaguely similar to my own. For example, let’s say my number is 087-1234567; the calls came from 087-1234001, 087-1234002 and so on.

As it turned out, the numbers dialling my phone pushing this ‘Department of Social Protection’ scam were actually real numbers belonging to real Irish phone users. The first number that called me belonged to a Dublin woman who, when I called back, said she hadn’t rung me, and couldn’t explain how her number came up on my phone.

The calls stopped, but resumed later in the week. It was then that I noticed something strange. Every so often during the day, my phone would make that familiar beeping noise one would expect when disconnecting a call. I thought this was a freak thing at first, but then it kept happening.

I’ve concluded that the reason this was happening was that my phone number or connection, like many others across Ireland, was being used by criminals to carry out the ‘Department of Social Protection’ scam. This would explain why my phone sounded like it was disconnecting from a call I had never made. Curiously, this odd behaviour ceased around 5pm on Friday – clever enough, as calls from government departments happening after this time would make any scam less believable.

I could be wrong, but I suspect what has happened is that the criminals running this operation have somehow developed an ability to, at best, mimic our phone numbers, or at worst, have hijacked network connections in order to carry out their nefarious activities. If that is the case, it’s a serious development, as it means the integrity of our communications infrastructure has potentially been compromised. If people’s phone numbers and connections can be used for fraud operations, they can be used for much worse.

I contacted ComReg, the communications regulator, about this on Twitter, but have received no reply. In the meantime, I would advise everyone to remain vigilant and to hang up whenever they hear that automated voice talking about your impending arrest.