Ireland modem hijack fraud
p2pnet.net News:- A business in Ireland found it had unknowingly racked up nearly $15,000 in calls. Other modem users found they had charges for calls to the South Pacific.
Now, “direct dial phone calls from Ireland to 13 other countries are to be blocked because of an internet fraud,” says the BBC, going on that hundreds of Irish phone users have run up large bills due to auto-dialling fraud or modem hijacking.
“From October 4th firms such as Eircom and Esat BT will have to block all direct-dial calls to the Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Nauru and a host of other small countries, most of which are in the South Pacific,” says the Irish Times.
“The Commissioner for Communications Regulation (ComReg) said yesterday it was taking the ‘exceptional’ action because of an upsurge in cases of ‘modem hijacking’, whereby Internet hackers based in offshore locations re-route a computer user’s link to the Internet.”
How does it work?
“The settings of that computer’s internet dial-up are altered, so that when the internet is dialled up, it rings a foreign and highly expensive number,” explains the BBC. “A portion of the cost of that call can then be siphoned off by the criminal.”
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See:-
racked up – Modem fraud forces Irish call ban, BBC Online News, September 22, 2004
South Pacific – Calls to 13 countries blocked in internet fraud clampdown, Irish Times, September 22, 2004
September 22nd, 2004 at 6:28 pm
DO NOT ANSWER CALLS WITH A PREFIX OF 630 coming in on your cellphone, unless you know someone calling youfrom the Philipines.
The rip/off will empty your account in seconds. They try it a couple of times a week!!!
September 22nd, 2004 at 8:58 pm
How can receiving a phone call empty your account exactly?
This seems highly unlikely…
And it reeks of irrational fear.
September 23rd, 2004 at 2:27 am
How does the amount of time affect the total? “Seconds” seems odd as well. My cellie is charged by the minute. Also, what account is being emptied? Your prepaid cell account?