Wangiri

Wangiri is a phone scam in which the scammer places a very short call, usually a single ring, from a high-cost international number, hoping the recipient will call back. The return call is charged at a high rate, and the scammer earns a share of the fee. The name is Japanese for "one ring and cut". It is a form of international revenue share fraud (IRSF).

#How does wangiri work?

The US Federal Communications Commission describes the pattern in its consumer guide on the "One Ring" phone scam. Numbers may look domestic because some international codes resemble US area codes. The FCC gives "232" (Sierra Leone) and "809" (the Dominican Republic) as examples. If you call back, you "may wind up being charged a fee for connecting, along with significant per-minute fees for as long as they can keep you on the phone". Variations use voicemails that urge people to call an unfamiliar number about a delivery or a sick relative.

Behind the scenes, the scammer controls or shares revenue from number ranges with high termination fees, then uses automated diallers to ring huge numbers of phones briefly. Spoofing may disguise the calling number further.

#How does wangiri affect businesses?

Consumers are the classic target, but businesses can pay more:

• Missed-call callbacks. Contact centers that automatically return every missed call can dial wangiri numbers many times.
• Callback forms. "Call me back" forms that accept any number can be filled by bots with high-cost numbers. This is sometimes called wangiri 2.0.
• Employee phones. Staff returning unknown calls on company lines add to the bill.

The loss is the cost of the outbound calls, and it often shows up only on the next invoice.

#How can you reduce wangiri losses?

1. Don't auto-return missed calls to countries you don't serve. Keep an allowlist of destination countries for outbound calling.
2. Check the number before calling back. Refuse premium-rate, shared-cost and unexpected international destinations.
3. Protect callback forms with bot defences and per-number and per-IP rate limits.
4. Bar international and premium-rate calling on lines that don't need it, and set spend alerts with your carrier.
5. Use caller ID signals for inbound calls: STIR/SHAKEN attestation, where your provider passes it, and number reputation.

#How does MobileValidate help?

Before your system dials a callback, the carrier lookup returns the number's country, current carrier and line type, including premium_rate and shared_cost, so your code can refuse risky destinations. Inconclusive answers are free. For inbound calls, spam reputation (limited access, US, CA and DE numbers) shows whether a number appears in regulator actions, complaint data or community reports. See call-center screening for a routing workflow.