TOKYO and DUBLIN, Ireland-Mobile operators around the globe are feeling the negative effects of scam efforts by third-party companies. Operators and regulatory agencies alike are beginning to fight back against the increasing problem.
NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile operator in Japan, announced it will launch countermeasures against phone scam. Wangiri, or mobile-phone scam, is a big issue in the Japanese telecommunications market.
Some ill-mind businesses dial phone numbers randomly using a computer system and hang up after one ring, leaving a number on the customer’s mobile handset. When a mobile-phone user sees the number and returns a call to the number, the line is automatically connected to a tape soliciting business.
Because these businesses make so many free wangiri calls, NTT telephone networks have gone down a couple of times during the past months. To cope with the problem, NTT DoCoMo will offer customers some countermeasures. One of them will let a customer register up to 19 scam telephone numbers with the NTT DoCoMo center. Once registered, these numbers will not be able to go through to any mobile customers, and the scam businesses will be charged telephone fees.
Junk text messages are becoming increasingly commonplace, particularly in the United Kingdom, now that unscrupulous companies have realized they can make massive profits by sending naive mobile-phone users text messages telling them to call premium rate numbers to collect prizes.
One such firm, Moby Monkey, has just been fined
