Phone calls from Belgium

[Dr Strangelove]

Can't help wondering whether the authorities are really serious about stopping it.

The organised crime groups behind these scams exploit the countries with the weakest controls around spoofing numbers. I assume Belgium is a weak link.

I got two calls last November which I answered as I would very rarely get a legitimate call from a Belgian number. It was dead at the other end.

None since.

 

[ClubMan]

With number spoofing the "Belgium" number may not actually be Belgian at all.

 

[tomdublin]

Whether or not the scam is physically located in Belgium it's been going on for months and it's fair to ask why it hasn't been shut down by now. Same applies to many other phone scams as well.

 

[Dr Strangelove]

Whether or not the scam is physically located in Belgium

It’s almost certainly an organised crime group on a different continent.

it's been going on for months and it's fair to ask why it hasn't been shut down by now.

My guess is that systems run by Belgian telcos and/or the Belgian regulatory framework are weak.

You can report it to the Belgian regulator here. I know from experience the more reports they get the more possible it is for them to act.

 

[Persia]

it's been going on for months and it's fair to ask why it hasn't been shut down by now.

What Ireland badly needs is a statutory body responsible for the regulation of the electronic communications sector, we could call it COMREG, or something equally as smart.
That would sort it pdq.

 

[tomdublin]

There are likely to be hundreds if not thousands of victims by now, so authorities in Belgium and elsewhere (should) be aware of it.

 

[Leo]

There are likely to be hundreds if not thousands of victims by now, so authorities in Belgium and elsewhere (should) be aware of it.

They are, in some cases they have been successful. Tracking them isn't trivial and a really organised fraudster may well have vanished by the time the gears if international law enforcement turn.

 

[Luternau]

Ironically, I just had another Belgian call 30mins ago.

 

[Ruffian]

The person at the other end of the line is often effectively a modern slave in an illegal fraud factory like these:

Hundreds of foreigners freed from Myanmar's scam centres

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has pledged to close scam centres along the Thai-Myanmar border.

www.bbc.com

'They fall in love with me': Inside the fraud factories driving the online scam boom

Based in heavily guarded compounds, these scam centres are spread across South east Asia. Sky News has gone undercover to expose the reality of life inside for thousands of workers who are caught in a criminal web.

news.sky.com

 

[demoivre]

I went through lengthy periods of receiving no scam calls and then might get two successive days of 5 or 6 calls per day ! For some time now I've blocked all numbers other than those in my contacts. The genuine caller can leave a message and I'll return the call. Works well for me.