"Spoofing" is booming

The plug is to be pulled on telephone fraudsters

Criminals use domestic cell phone numbers indiscriminately

(Bild: benjaminnolte - stock.adobe.com)

The misuse of people's own cell phone numbers has recently caused a lot of trouble in Upper Austria. A chief inspector from the Upper Austrian State Office of Criminal Investigation explains how the scam works and how those affected should best behave.

Have you ever experienced this? You see a missed call on your cell phone and dutifully call back. But then someone completely unknown answers at the other end of the line, who is surprised and claims: "I didn't call at all!"

Such "ghost calls" have recently caused a lot of trouble. Gerald Sakoparnig, head of the fraud department at the Upper Austrian State Office of Criminal Investigation, explains: "The perpetrators randomly use an Austrian cell phone number. It started last year in the fall and always happens in batches."

New scam
The criminals use domestic numbers to inspire confidence and elicit sensitive data from their victims. However, no major damage has been reported in Upper Austria. However, the scam - known as "spoofing" - is booming: In January, 257 cases of misuse of personal phone numbers were reported to the regulatory authority RTR across Austria, in August the figure was already 1533. The number of unreported cases is likely to be much higher.

However, it is not necessary to change the cell phone number once it has been used by fraudsters, says Chief Inspector Sakoparnig: "Because it can happen to me again in 14 days with the new number."

Network operators have a duty
Now the plug is to be pulled on the fraudsters, who often call from abroad, anyway: Since September, network operators have had to verify calls from domestic numbers from abroad according to a new nationwide regulation. If they cannot be verified, the number is suppressed on the display.