[ad_1]
If you don’t know the number, you shouldn’t call back immediately.
© WHAT
Caution: If the phone rings unexpectedly in the next few days and you do not know the number displayed, unfortunately it is often not dear Baby Jesus. Instead, there may be high costs.
The Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs-GmbH (RTR) warned about the so-called ping calls from Tunisia and Abkhazia on Sunday. For a few weeks now, the telephone number abuse complaints office has been reporting an increase in complaints about numbers with the +216 area code for Tunisia and currently with the +7940 area code for Abkhazia. Callers only let it ring once (“ping”) and a callback from Austria incurs high costs, he said in a broadcast.
More ping calls at Christmas
“We assume that in the coming weeks the number of ping calls to various foreign numbers will again increase significantly. During the Christmas holidays, we all make a lot of calls and call back immediately if we miss calls,” explained Klaus Steinmaurer. General Director of RTR for the Department of Telecommunications and Posts.
“If you call again and let them put you on hold longer, for example, you will find a higher amount on the next phone bill. The per minute rate is usually around the euro,” Steinmaurer emphasized.
It costs only if you call back
If the called party pings the call, nothing can happen, there are no costs. But do not call back under any circumstances, making the RTR recommendation. Modern smartphones often offer the option to suppress incoming calls with certain numbers; this is a possible defense against repeated ping calls.
The ranges of numbers that are used incorrectly are listed in ruf Numbersmissus.at. There is also a form there that can be used to report suspicious numbers, after which the general population can be warned.
[ad_2]
