New mobile phone scam promises prizes but could cost a small fortune: The latest scheme promises a cash prize of £1,000 which rarely materialises but costs each unwitting victim about £15 in premium rate phone bills
It uses computer-generated calls to ring target phones just once so that a number is left behind as a missed call. When users ring the number to find out who has been calling them, they are answered by someone saying "customer care" then the voice goes into the "congratulations" spiel. The caller is then referred to a premium rate number where they can find out more details of their "fantastic prize". At no time are they voluntarily told how much this will cost them but a call to the number given to the Guardian lasted 11 minutes at a cost of £1.50 a minute.
