FACUA warns of reverse-charge calls from Africa and eastern Europe
Thursday, April 18, 2019 @ 1:36 PM
A LEADING consumer association has warned members of the public not to answer calls with one of five country prefixes, since they could end up with a huge telephone bill as a result.
Those who know someone in any of the countries listed and normally speak to them by phone should check the number on their screen before picking up, and ignore it if they do not recognise it.
FACUA-Consumers in Action has had numerous reports of calls from numbers with the country codes 225 (Côte d'Ivoire, formerly the Ivory Coast), 233 (Ghana), 234 (Nigeria), 355 (Albania), and 387 (Bosnia), who end up getting charged just for answering.
Where a mobile or landline customer does fall victim to one of these additional-tariff number scams, FACUA says, they should notify their operator in writing to advise them and request an itemised bill which breaks down the cost of the rogue call.
The customer can then opt not to pay this part of the bill and, if the phone company sends reminders and the customer still does not pay, the operator is not permitted to cut their line off.
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