Many complaints

Fraudsters cause telephone terror from the island

The fraudsters want to communicate with their victims on WhatsApp.(Bild: EPA)

Anyone who receives a call beginning with +44 on their cell phone display should press the call away immediately. This is because scam calls from the UK have been on the increase for several days.

The Broadcasting and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (RTR) alone has recently recorded hundreds of complaints. "The number of unreported cases will be significantly higher," suspects Managing Director Klaus Steinmaurer. Anyone who does answer the call hears a female computer voice. "Hello, I'd like to talk to you about work. Add me on WhatsApp," she says. After that, the call ends.

Sensitive data
The perpetrators are likely to target personal data and subsequently the money of their potential victims. "Communication via the messenger service is free of charge for the fraudsters," says Steinmaurer, explaining the choice of platform. The fraudsters then hope to take their counterpart by surprise. "We all know how quickly people react to chat messages - very often without thinking - and are likely to give out their data," warns the RTR Managing Director.

The best protection is...
Steinmaurer therefore advises, as do the police experts, to show a healthy distrust when receiving unexpected calls from abroad. "The best protection is not to pick up the phone in the first place," he emphasizes. This is because fraudsters often call random telephone numbers. "Only when you pick up the phone do they know that the number actually belongs to someone," explains an investigator.