In recent days, thousands of Mexican citizens have reported a situation as strange as it is unsettling: phone calls from numbers with the +44 prefix, corresponding to the United Kingdom.
At first, they seemed like isolated errors, but a clear pattern was revealed, messages recorded in Spanish with supposed job offers, or calls that cut off after a single ring. The mystery quickly exploded on social media.
The calls seemingly offered international jobs, but in reality, they were phone scams known as the "wangiri" method. This is a technique already detected in other parts of the world, now adapted to the Mexican context.
Las estafas telefonicas van en aumento
How does the wangiri method work?
The Japanese term "wangiri" means "one ring and cut". This is how this scam operates:
the criminals briefly call from an international number, hang up, and wait for the victim, out of curiosity or suspicion, to call back.
By doing so, the user is connected to a line with high per-minute rates, even activating unauthorized subscriptions and incurring excessive charges on their bill.
In other variants of the same scam, the scammers speak directly with the victim, offering them fake job opportunities and asking them to add a WhatsApp number. They then begin to extract personal data or request money for fictitious procedures.
Authorities react
Faced with the growing number of complaints, the head of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), Omar García Harfuch, addressed the issue. He acknowledged that the agency has not yet precisely identified this new modality, but assured that they are already working to investigate it:
"We haven't identified these numbers, but we'll check it immediately," Harfuch stated.
Omar Garcia Harfuch y Claudai Sheinbaum
Meanwhile, President Claudia Sheinbaum urged the population to act with caution and not answer calls from unknown numbers.
"To the general public, don't answer phones we don't recognize," recommended the leader.
What to do if you receive such a call?
Cybersecurity specialists recommend immediately blocking numbers with suspicious prefixes, not returning international calls you don't expect, and reporting the incident to your telephone company or the relevant authorities.
It is also important to avoid sharing personal data via WhatsApp or other platforms if the contact is not verified.
Autoridades alertan del incremento de las llamadas
What seems like a simple missed call could turn into an economic or personal security problem. Given the ingenuity of scammers, the best defense remains informed caution.
