Telecom leaves bar on Pacific toll calls to Irish

By ANGELA GREGORY

A move by Ireland to block direct telephone calls to most Pacific Island countries because of internet scams will not be replicated in New Zealand, where Telecom tackles the fraud on a case-by-case basis.

The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) in Ireland this week announced it was taking the exceptional action because of an upsurge in cases of modem hijacking where hackers re-route a computer user's link.

Irish consumers will be prevented from making telephone calls to 13 countries next month, including Norfolk Island, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Kiribati, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands and Nauru.

This year, more than 300 Irish consumers have fallen victim to auto-dialling frauds which added thousands of dollars to some toll bills.

The fraudsters hack into computers and install software which changes the user's internet dial-up settings, then claim a portion of the fee for an automatically dialled telephone call.

Many small Pacific nations have leased out batches of telephone numbers as a revenue source.

Telecom spokeswoman Sarah Berry said there had been problems in New Zealand where customers had discovered large unexplained toll charges on their accounts as a result of such fraud.

"We've been aware of it for about 1 1/2 years."

Telecom's policy was to waive the charge the first time and advise customers how to install software to protect them from further abuse.

The fraudulently used number was also barred from use by others.