James Debono
The Malta Communications Authority wants operators to start a free-of-charge service that will alert subscribers whenever abnormally expensive calls are being made from their telephones.
Subscribers will be able to limit the expenditure on each phone call, so that whenever this limit is exceeded the subscriber is immediately informed, a consultation paper issued by the MCA proposed.
MCA said it was proposing this new service in view of a substantial number of complaints relating to excessive telephone bills where subscribers deny making the calls invoiced on their bills.
In the past year MCA received two complaints from people who denied making the expensive calls for which they were billed.
According to the MCA such excessive bills are often the result of “rogue diallers” that hijack the computer modem and use it to dial-up a premium rate telephone number, resulting in huge telephone bills.
According to the BBC website ‘Ask Bruce’ rogue diallers are often hidden in other bits of software which are most commonly downloaded alongside software, music or pornography.
Rogue diallers, also known as “porn diallers” since porn sites use diallers to bring in revenue, when people don’t pay from for a service using their credit card.
But the MCA does not see any connection between porn downloads and rogue diallers, arguing that the major threat is posed by hackers who manage to infiltrate other people’s Bluetooth mobiles phones to make calls which end up being paid by their victims.
“Mobile hackers can connect to the cell phone, without the knowledge of the owner, and download the addresses and other information one might have on the phone. This technique is called Bluesnarfing,” the MCA spokesperson told MaltaToday.
To avoid becoming a Bluetooth hacking victim, “you should not leave your mobile phones Bluetooth on if you are not using the service,” the MCA warns.
Consumers are advised to disconnect if their mobile phone is connected to any unrecognisable Bluetooth device.
According to the MCA victims can also sue the hacker to recover any damages suffered (including excessive phone bills) incurred as a result of that illegal act.
But hacking is not the only way through which rogue diallers are installed. British telecommunications giant Virgin Media says rogue diallers can also install themselves on computers using malicious emails with attachments, which encourage users to open an attachment by deception, leading to the installation of the dialler. Disreputable websites which unexpectedly ask unwitting users to install software, usually via some pop-up window are another source of infection.
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