[VoiceOps] UK NTS scam

[Simon Woodhead]

Hi Colin,

UK NTS fraud is essentially arbitrage - relying on paying less for a call
than the perpetrator is making in outpayment.

Generally speaking this is most prevalent on 447 numbers as some networks
route 447 as UK mobile without breaking out the more dangerous codes
underneath it. In our experience the most common is calls to number ranges
with connection charges relying on somebody in the supply chain not passing
them on; the result is thousands of 1-2 second calls yielding next to no
revenue on the per minute basis but massive costs [and thus outpayments] at
the per call level. 449s also have per call ranges within them but generally
speaking 44844s are usually ok providing you are billing them correctly per
minute - they cost 1-5p per minute at retail and should not be billed as a
local rate call like 44845. If you can provide the next 3 digits I'm happy
to comment further on these specific calls.

We receive enquiries on this daily and counsel customers daily. Our advice
is that nobody outside the UK should have volume to these number ranges and
they aren't part of the UK international dial-plan so no international
provider has to provide access to them. If someone is asking about specific
numbers or ranges then that is 99% certainly dodgy and should be avoided.
Naturally, this advice is frequently ignore but rarely with a positive
outcome!!

Kind regards,
Simon

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Simon Woodhead FCSI
Managing Director
Simwood eSMS Limited <http://www.simwood.com>

direct line: +44 (0) 29 2120 2121
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On Sat, Apr 3, 2010 at 2:12 AM, Colin <zavoid at gmail.com> wrote:

> Can someone explain to me what the scam is on calls to + 44844 (UK NTS).
> I'm seeing a bit of traffic to these destinations and it just doesn't feel
> right, and they all answer to strange IVRs.  I'm assuming someone has had
> this issue before.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Colin
> _______________________________________________
> VoiceOps mailing list
> VoiceOps at voiceops.org
> https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
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