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THE LATEST IN a string of Whatsapp messages doing the rounds while a great many of us are at home during the Covid-19 outbreak claims that returning a phone call from a number with a certain international area code could cost you a lot of money.

As with many other viral messages during this crisis, the message is nonsense.

In this case, it isn’t particularly new either. It’s appeared in a number of countries in various ways over the years.

Having said that, just because this isn’t legitimate that doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be wary of potential scams during the current crisis.

Here’s what it says:

Here’s the gist. It’s a “very urgent” message that people are asked to “please pass around to your family and friends”. It lists a number of numbers that people “have been receiving calls from”.

“One ring and hang up,” it says. “If you call back, they can copy your contact list in 3 sec & if you have bank or credit card details on your phone, they can copy that too…”

It further warns: “*Also, Don’t Press* *#90 or #09* on your Mobile when asked by any caller. *It’s a New Trick to access your SIM card* Make calls at your expense and frame you as a criminal.”

It then grimly concludes: “*Forward this message* to as many friends as U can to stop it.”

So what’s going on here?

As pointed out here by US fact-checkers Snopes, these kind of warnings have been going around for a long, long time.

These kinds of warnings have been seen in the US, Australia and the UK throughout the past decade or so. 

The Snopes article from 2012 features – you guessed it – warnings about the exact same phone numbers.

Even if you got a call from one of these numbers, just ringing them back doesn’t let them copy your contact list. Not in three seconds or in three minutes or so on. 

And there’s no way that just calling someone could allow them to steal the bank details stored on your phone. Furthermore, if you press the digits mentioned above, you won’t be framed as a criminal.

There are – rare – instances where someone’s phone could be hacked but that couldn’t be facilitated through a simple phone call.

That said, there have been scams in operation where you can get a call from an unusual area code and, when you call them back, it could cost you a lot of money because the charge to call that number could be so high.

Furthermore, if you do call them fraudsters could be on the other end and aim to swindle you out of cash.

The advice of “don’t answer or call back” in the WhatsApp message above may actually be a good one in that sense. If you’re not expecting a call from someone in that country, it may be a good idea not to call back if you have a missed call from a number in that area code.

But the idea that calling them could mean you instantly have your bank details compromised isn’t a credible one. 

Last month, gardaí issued a warning about specific frauds targeting people during the coronavirus crisis.

”A phishing scam involves an unsolicited email, text, WhatsApp or phonecall from someone claiming to be from a legitimate organisation, and is a ruse for the individual to gain access to personal information,” gardaí said. 

Banks have issued similar warnings, with Banking and Payments Federation Ireland CEO Brian Hayes commenting last week: “With a range of financial and other Covid-19 supports now available for impacted consumers and business we anticipate that fraudsters will target victims via email, text, phone and social media by posing as genuine organisations including government, banks and health care providers in an attempt to get victims to disclose personal or financial information.

We have already had warnings in relation to the new Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment with fraudsters posing as officials asking for financial details to process this payment.

In these troubled times, we should all take care not to fall victim to scammers aiming at taking our money.

You should take extra care at all times. For example, the Department of Social Protection – which administers the new Covid-19 payments – said last month that it will never ask for a person’s bank details over the phone. 

While we do need to take care, we also don’t need misinformation like that WhatsApp message above. 

So – if you receive that message – “forward this message to as many friends as U can to stop it”. There’s nothing to stop. It’s nonsense.