Beware! VOIP devices have become a new fraud tool. Here are some tips on how to identify and prevent them →

Author: Duan Yuechu

Recently, a gateway device called VOIP has been found in many places to be used by criminals for fraud. When the staff of a telecommunications company's Laoshan branch was checking a resident's home in a community in Laoshan District, they found such a suspicious black device.

After investigation, it was found that the equipment was installed for free by a fraud gang pretending to be a telecommunications company employee. Similar cases have occurred in Beijing, Shanghai and other places. For example, the Mianyang Internet Security Department in Sichuan Province arrested two people who pretended to be telecommunications company employees to install VOIP equipment to help overseas fraud gangs.

So, what exactly is a VOIP device? In fact, a VOIP gateway device is an IP-based voice transmission conversion device that can convert overseas network signals into local fixed-line signals. Many people have heard of GOIP. VOIP and GOIP are similar, both of which are IP-based voice transmission conversion. GOIP uses a mobile phone card to access the telephone network, and the caller ID is a mobile phone number; VOIP uses a fixed telephone line to access the telephone network, and the caller ID is a fixed-line number.

The fraudsters who are far away in foreign countries dial the number remotely, and after the VOIP equipment converts it, the caller ID on the victim's mobile phone becomes a domestic landline number, which greatly reduces the victim's defense.

So, how do you tell whether a call is transferred through a VOIP gateway device?

First, you can pay attention to the characteristics of the incoming call number. If the number displayed on the caller ID is abnormal, such as an uncommon area code combination, an unfamiliar fixed-line phone number segment, or the number does not conform to the number segment pattern assigned by the normal communication operator, it may have been transferred through VOIP.

Secondly, pay attention to the call quality. VOIP calls may have special quality issues such as sound delay, freeze, echo, and loud background noise, but ordinary network fluctuations may also cause similar phenomena, so you cannot make an absolute judgment based on this alone.

Furthermore, if you receive a call from an unknown source that asks you to provide sensitive personal information, transfer money, or promote unfamiliar products or services, and the caller number is suspicious, be wary of scam calls being transferred via VOIP.

In addition, you can also use the call log query function of the mobile phone operator to check the source and routing information of the call, but it is difficult for ordinary users to obtain detailed technical information, and you may need the assistance of the operator or relevant law enforcement agencies. In addition, some mobile phone security software may prompt and mark suspicious calls. If there are corresponding prompts, you should also be vigilant.

Public security organs have always severely cracked down on illegal buying, selling, renting, lending, selling bank cards, phone cards, and illegal installation and use of "GOIP" and "VOIP" equipment. According to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, if a person knowingly provides technical support or other assistance to others for committing crimes through information networks, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and shall be fined or fined alone if the circumstances are serious.

Here, the police remind everyone that the elderly are easily targeted by this type of fraud due to their limited access to information and relatively weak awareness of prevention. As family members, we should strengthen our care and reminders for the elderly, popularize anti-fraud knowledge, and jointly protect the safety of family property. If you find someone using VOIP equipment in your life, or someone pretends to be a telecommunications company staff member to install VOIP equipment at your home for reasons such as maintenance or network speed-up, please call 110 immediately.