Petra
– Official institutions and experts in the telecommunications sector have warned citizens against falling into the trap of anonymous international calls that come to them through their phones or various means of communication, stressing that they are fraudulent and aim to hunt for their data, which requires blocking them immediately.
They assured the Jordan News Agency (Petra) that the best mechanism for dealing with unknown numbers is not to respond to them and never click on links that may be sent in the form of text messages or messages on the “WhatsApp” application.
They pointed out that the safe and secure way to deal with unknown numbers is to block such “attacks” by telecom service providers directly through the use of specialized systems developed by companies specialized in telecom solutions.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority warned against calling back international numbers of unknown origin in order to avoid any fraudulent operations, and called on citizens through social media platforms, the press and its website to block these calls.
And she indicated that the random fraudulent calls, which adopt the principle of missed call with one ring from international numbers, scientifically called “Wangry Call”, and mostly occur at disturbing times, aiming to involve those who try to call back with the services of added costs and achieve illegal financial gain.
The authority indicated that it is cooperating with cellular telecommunications companies to exchange databases of fraudulent international numbers, block them, and develop mechanisms to detect behavioral patterns of these fraudulent international calls in order to reduce their numbers and mitigate their risks to beneficiaries.
The authority confirmed that it is currently studying the best international technical practices in this field, as this type of emerging fraud requires complex techniques and methodologies.
It also renewed its warning against being drawn into fraudulent advertisements claiming to give them financial rewards or financial compensation, whether through SMS or through social networking applications.
In turn, the National Center for Cybersecurity warned against responding to calls and messages of unknown origin, which mostly come from outside the Kingdom and are unknown, and are received through direct calls, or through social media programs and some applications, or through text messages whose aim is fraud and fraud by obtaining On private information or financial and personal blackmail.
He added that among the most prominent numbers from which calls can be received are the numbers that start with the international code 876, which is the code for Jamaica, 473 the code for Grenada, 287 the British Virgin Islands code, 809 from the Dominican Republic or 960 from the Maldives, and others.
The center stated that the most common fraud requests focus on paying money, especially in cash or sometimes through a gift card, as it is difficult, with this type of fraud, to recover money again if the fraud is discovered after payment.
The scams also focus on giving out information such as a bank account number, social security number, or online login data, in addition to visiting a website via a link to log into an account or to receive more information, and finally downloading an application or file similar to antivirus applications.
The center called for the need to be careful and careful not to receive such calls or to call back missed calls, and to block them immediately, and to delete incoming messages directly and not to open them, so that the recipient does not fall victim to such practices.
The center provided many tips for citizens to follow in order to avoid scams via mobile phones, including using the “VPN” (Virtual Private Network) application when connecting to a public Internet, as “VPN” encryption keeps data from intrusion when using the Internet. Outside the home, these services hide private data so that it cannot be traced through the user’s IP address or any other means.
The center pointed out the need to use very strong and secure passwords, and not to use one password for more than one account. Rather, it is better to use different passwords consisting of a random series of letters and symbols for each password, and to diversify the password by containing special symbols, numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters.
And he stressed the need to create long PIN codes to lock the phone screen, which is difficult to hack, and not to use dates or personal information, since hackers usually try anything they can find on the Internet before guessing at random, and to avoid basic number combinations such as “0000”. or “1234”.
The center pointed out that real gifts and prizes do not require fees, so if someone asks the user for the price of shipping the prize and sending it to him, it is better to dismiss that prize because it is very likely that this offer is a fraudulent process.
He called for using a call blocking application, as these applications identify and disable automated phone calls and prevent other frauds from reaching the phone, and these services may not always be ideal and the caller may end up being described as a fraud despite his innocence, and some applications may fortunately contain tags In Calls tells which calls may be spam, allowing the user to decide whether or not to answer.
The center also advised not to interact with the caller, because interaction in any way may encourage more calls, so it is better to avoid pressing numbers to browse the automated menus and not to answer direct video calls if the user believes that it is only a fraud, so the call should be simply terminated.
The center stressed the need to avoid the use of unofficial applications for services, as the use of third-party applications (such as banking services and social networks) may lead to granting those parties unwanted access. Even worse, providing login information to third parties can be a scam to steal account login credentials, and it’s best to avoid apps that bundle all separate services into one, and instead choose the official app for each service separately.
For his part, the representative of the communications and information technology sector at the Jordan Chamber of Commerce, Eng. Haitham Al-Rajubeh, said that the safe way to deal with unknown incoming numbers and messages is not to answer calls and messages from unknown or suspicious numbers, especially if they are international.
He added that in the event of receiving any suspicious message via a messaging application such as “WhatsApp”, one should avoid opening the attached links, or downloading those files attached to them, and one should beware of messages that ask for personal or financial information, and when suspicious of a specific number, it is preferable to search for it through Internet, and follow up if there are complaints against him or previous reports to this number.
With regard to an application that shows data of caller numbers such as “True Caller”, the engineer explained that this application stores names with phone numbers in a database, and tries to maintain the security of users, but like any service on the Internet, it may contain a degree of danger and the stored data may be compromised. also.
In turn, the Executive Director of the Jordanian Open Source Association, Issa Mahasneh, said that the best mechanism for dealing with unknown numbers is not to respond to them and not to click on links that may be sent in the form of text messages or messages on the “WhatsApp” application.
He said, “Often these messages contain links to malicious websites or software, or they may be a gateway to fraud and theft. It is always better not to answer and delete them, and not to open any link, even if it is out of curiosity.”
Mahasneh indicated that with regard to an application such as Truecaller, two aspects must be taken into account. First, the extent to which this application respects privacy: it relies on sharing phone numbers stored on a device with the company, and this is a procedure that was considered legal in many countries, but the user He must be aware that once he uses the application, such data will be shared with the company that developed the application and other persons, and this may be without the consent of the owner of the number in the first place.
In terms of security, the application has previously been subjected to attacks by hackers to seize information, and in all cases, the user must be aware that the names appearing in the application for phone numbers may not always be correct and not updated, and the owner of the number can change them as he wishes, and the alternative is to use the application Block numbers may be directly by cell phone without using additional application.
For his part, Partner Director of the Global Modern Company for the Development of Communications Software “Globaltel”, Eng. Fadi Qutaishat, said, “The safe and secure way to deal with unknown numbers is to block such “attacks” by telecom service providers directly through the use of specialized systems that are being developed. by companies specializing in communications solutions.
He explained that these systems analyze the data of incoming calls or withdraw the data of the “WhatsApp” application to extract contact numbers and identify patterns and scenarios of attacks, after which each pattern and scenario is dealt with in a dynamic manner that can be updated and developed automatically to be able to deal with the new types and patterns.
Qutaishat stressed the need to be careful not to use call blocking or identity detection programs such as the “True Caller” program, because the user gives the program full authority to view all numbers and names stored on the user’s cellular device to use it for commercial purposes, so it is preferable to block numbers directly through the smartphone without The need to use any software.