Scammers are making Wangiri, One-Ring, or Missed Scam calls from Tokelau 0069 area code. Tokelau is a territory of New Zealand that uses the ".tka" top-level website or domain name. Wangiri is a Japanese word meaning "One Ring and Cut". It's a telephone scam where criminals trick you into calling premium-rate numbers. The money collected via the premium pay-per-minute services will be paid over to the scammers unless the scam is detected and shut down by the callers' telephone service provider. The danger of these scams is not receiving the phone calls, but calling back the premium-rate telephone numbers.
How the Wangiri Scam Works?
Potential victims find a missed call on their phones. If they call the number back they will be re-routed to a premium rate number overseas and will be subsequently charged for the expensive call.
What to Look Out for?
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The call takes place at night or during working hours, which reduce the chances for the recipients to answer call.
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The caller's telephone number displays an unusual international country code
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Call only rings once
What Can You Do?
If you have a missd call from an unknown number, don't call back. If you receive serveral such calls, report it to you phone service provider.
Also, Tokelau gives out domains for free, which is being taken advantage of by scammers. Scammers, particularly those employing phishing, exploit or spam tactics, are subject to frequent blacklisting and so they must register and discard many domains very quickly. Scammers use fake Tokelau (.tka) websites to create excessive pop-ups for fraudulent practices, and browser exploits such as installing viruses or spyware on a visitor's computer.