Who owns those fraudulent numbers

[screambones]

We had a case of IP PBX hijacking with large volumes of calls to a number of destinations.

No doubt the 'companies' offering anonymous world premium rate termination are the source of these numbers.

Can anyone here locate who is paying out the cash for any of these numbers ?

85099930580
881942011238
881942011235
85099930506
85099930551
8823461010
25230221005

[Hamlet]

0085099930580 North Korea, some companies are offering 008509xxx
http://www.world-premium-telecom.com...&page=payouts#
test number is not available
1000min=90$

Keyzone offers + 850-99921220



0085099930506 s.a.
0085099930551 s.a.

00881942011238 00881-9-42011238 Globalstar (satellite)
00881942011235 00881-9-42011235 Globalstar (satellite)

008823461010 International Network (???) (*)

0025230221005 Somalia

keyzone offers 002523022xxxx
http://www.keyzone-telemedia.com/terminations.html

test number
+252-30220000 = 0025230220000


(*) Get in touch with Mr Andreas Fink, he is the owner of those numbers. I would suggest asking him about the number and sending a copy to ITU. I will send you the mails in a private message

I will check the other numbers later
also try www.whocallsme.com

--

you do't allow private messages.
afink[at]gni.ch for 0088234, copy to: richard.hill[at]itu.int
copy to: tsbsg2(at)itu.int copy to: tsbsg3(at)itu.int

Explain your case, ask them to take steps to stop international number scams. Mr Fink cannot do anything against it, but he will take a look at the numbers. Ask him to get in touch with ITU, ITU should take a look at it (because it is a case of short stopping: The 0088234 is not really the "target" of the call. It is a fraud that is possible because of contracts between Telcos and fraudsters.

[screambones]

All of the primary rate supplier mentioned in previous posts seem to supply numbers in those ranges. It's seems obvious there is a 'common benefactor' using one of those services (428 calls to 85099930580) - so how do we find who's sub-allocating ? and how can we locate that benefactor ?

I tried calling globalstar but did not get a human - I have emailed them, but yet to get a reply. (You would think they had an interest as it must damage their international rep. - in fact why are they allowed farm these numbers off for 'premium rate' revenue share?)

I tried contacting world-premium-telecom via email to ask if the numbers are sub-allocated by them, they were very quick to answer my first email which was in the form of a 'general enquiry', but after the second which raised the issue of number ownership they have been silent.

Thank you for mr. Finks contact.

[Hamlet]

All of the primary rate supplier mentioned in previous posts seem to supply numbers in those ranges.

Originally Posted by screambones

Yes, I have also seen this.
Those numbers are given away in blocks (if you want to learn more, google for "OPTUS vs Gilsan"). I will explain it as short as possible:

Two ways:

I)
The original owner of the numbers KNOWS about the sharing agreement because he is a part of it (like Telecom Vanuatu in the OPTUS vs Gilsan case)
So they BENEFIT from any traffic

II)
The original owner of the numbers does NOT know about any sharing agreement, so he does not benefit and only gets the problem
(that's what Mr Fink explains. He does not even see the traffic)

Keep in mind: The traffic is short stopped, it never reaches the destination number

Example: Mr John Silver in London is calling an EMSAT number. So he gets a 5$ bill payable to BT. BT then pays 4,50$ to the next part of the chain. Usually this next part pays 4,30 to the next part of the chain and so on until at the end EMSAT gets a part of the money.

In the short stopping scenery you have a man in the middle who gets paid by BT (and the next parts of the chain) and is paying EMSAT (or not)

So it does not help to complain at the wrong end of the chain (EMSAT) but you have to complainb at the beginning (BT)

So please tell me: In which country are you?
Then go to your national regulator. I will assist you as far as I can.

It's seems obvious there is a 'common benefactor' using one of those services (428 calls to 85099930580) - so how do we find who's sub-allocating ? and how can we locate that benefactor ?

You have to start at your country. And then get down the chain. But I fear you won't find the answer.

That's why I would suggest that ITU should resolve such matters - but they do NOT.

They know about it, but they do not care.

This will happen as long as nobody urges ITU to give any statement. So it's important where you are. Maybe we could try this or that...

ITU is run by the UN.

I tried calling globalstar but did not get a human - I have emailed them, but yet to get a reply.

Mail again and copy the mail to your national regulator and to ITU.

(You would think they had an interest as it must damage their international rep.

They don't give a f**ck because nobody cares about it. Nobody understands the problem.

- in fact why are they allowed farm these numbers off for 'premium rate' revenue share?)

Because nobody is regulating Telecommunication.
In the case of Mr Fink: what shall he do? He cannot do anything, but maybe he would start assisting you iof his name gets mentioned too often in connection to fraud.

But I feel sorry for him, because he is not the bad guy.

I tried contacting world-premium-telecom via email to ask if the numbers are sub-allocated by them, they were very quick to answer my first email which was in the form of a 'general enquiry', but after the second which raised the issue of number ownership they have been silent.

It's hard to understand the game... The company with the best and/or fastest payout is possibly closer to the origin of the problem.

That's not WPT, but bigger companies.

Phonegroup SA is still one of the companies I suppose to be close to the center of the problem. Or Mediatel (because they are mentioned in OPTUS vs GILSAN)
Cable&Wireless might also be very close. From the other side.

By the way: Somalia is not reigned by democrats, North Korea either ( ). One should gio to the media or to the politics and ask them: Why are eueropean telcos allowed to make profit from fraud when dictators are profiting?

Maybe that's a good chance to put pressure to ITU (via UN)
I would have done that before, but my English is not sufficent...

[Hamlet]

25230221005

Originally Posted by screambones

http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=de

[Hamlet]

881942011238
881942011235

Originally Posted by screambones

881942011235

same as above

[Hamlet]

a) International Numbers are used for fraud, there are many examples
b) This can only happen by "short stopping"
c) it is known from OPTUS vs GILSAN that Telcos have "secret contracts" with (for example) porn companies
d) So there is reason to believe that many of those secret contracts do exist
e) Those contracts should be made public to save the consumers
f) ITU should take necessary steps

That would be my line of argumentation.

this has to be add:
g) Those numbers are offered via internet, completely anonymous, there is no regulation, nothing. The benefit for telcos from those secret arrangements must not be an argument to keep this topic under the surface when there is sufficient proof that there is consumer harm.

h) The fraud schemes can only work with the help of national carriers

Just to be clear I didn’t say that we have no control at all but, just to give you an example, if Belgacom (dominant carrier in Belgium) collect from land line a call toward a specific international number but, thanks to some “special” agreement, instead of routing the call to Belgacom International Services (who will route the call to [our] switch) will route the call to a local provider… we cannot see any traffic!



And believe me… there are a lot of big, incumbent and hi standing carriers we found in the past doing such a thing.

pressure on ITU could help. Contact your national regulator and politicians.

see my signature

The idea that governments should protect citizens against the excesses of free enterprise has been replaced with the idea that governments should protect business activities against the excesses of democratic regulation. --Sharon Beder

[Hamlet]

from that strange list

1.
DOMINICA 17675033800
2.
BURKINA FASO 22650770017
3.
NIGER 227110415
4.
SIERRA LEONE 23222278680
5.
SIERRA LEONE 23222281194
6.
SIERRA LEONE 23222288850
7.
SIERRA LEONE 23224001201
8.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 2362161457
9.
GUINEA-BISSAU 2454998492
10.
SEYCHELLES 248984700
11.
SOMALIA 25230221005
12.
SOMALIA 25240212160
13.
DJIBOUTI 253891510
14.
KENYA 254204795006
15.
BURUNDI 25774855014
16.
MADAGASCAR 261200200786
17.
ZIMBABWE 263912795717
18.
ZIMBABWE 263913790657
19.
BULGARIA 359999302101
20.
BULGARIA 359999763214
21.
LITHUANIA 37091009402
22.
LATVIA 37127690000
23.
LATVIA 37165153819
24.
LATVIA 37165779302
25.
LATVIA 37181031228
26.
ESTONIA 3727077106
27.
SAN MARINO 37866311289
28.
SAN MARINO 37877311915
29.
LIECHTENSTEIN 4238701474
30.
LIECHTENSTEIN 4238900109
31.
AUSTRIA 43820893013
32.
AUSTRIA 43820894347
33.
NICARAGUA 50588922208
34.
CUBA 535959859
35.
NORFOLK ISLAND 672372610
36.
KOREA (Dem.Rep.North Korea) 85099930506
37.
ELLIPSO 881335184091
38.
GLOBALSTAR 881942011235
39.
EMSAT 88213130242
40.
MYANMAR 95525806571
41.
TAJIKISTAN 992372300162
42.
GEORGIA 99572001317

Take a look at the AUSTRIAN numbers. Both are run by IP Communications GmbH and the service provider is

KWAK TELECOM, Cyprus
(a German based company we all know)

see here
http://www.rtr.at/index.php?S=082089...bmit_TK=Suchen


kwak =

http://www.premium-rates.com/international-numbers.asp

[Hamlet]

85099930580
85099930506
85099930551

Kwak:
85099930910
85099930500
I guess that's a hit.

8823461010

Kwak
8823462508
I guess that's not a hit

881942011235
881942011238

Kwak:
881842011122
881942011117
881835211599
881935211599
unsure

25230221005

kwak
25230221000
I guess that's a hit

I guess:
KWAK and the anonymous share the same source for some of the numbers

ask Gottfried Schrempf or Ludger Braum

lbraum(at)kwak-telecom.com
gschrempf(at)kwak-telecom.com

and don't forget to send a copy to Richard Hill

[Hamlet]

# Termination : Korea-North ,
# Test Number :+850 99930680

mediatel payout 10cts per minute.

not bad
premium-tlc offers up to 9cts, but 15cts here
http://www.premiumtlc.com/North_Korea_6/, but it's 6/9 in the 30/10 list
http://67.219.212.149/stats/ratessheetpdf.php

[Hamlet]

kwak telecom is not involved here, according to a statement from a computerbetrug.de member - so don't bother them.
sorry@kwak, I will ask for a deletion.

interesting:
http://www.somaliawatch.org/archivedec01/020111101.htm

In time, VSAT was installed by private operators and the services of international companies such as AT&T and Telia were employed to provide transit facilities for incoming and outgoing calls.

Telecoms operators have moved quickly to take advantage of the lack of restrictions and regulation made possible by the lack of a functioning central government.

There are four telecoms companies, down from five a few years ago. They include Al-Barakaat, the company currently battling with terrorism allegations and frozen assets (see page 45), and the Somali Telecom Group, an umbrella for a number of companies.

2002


---

25230221005 = 252-3-0221005

mediatel offers 252-3023xxxx
http://www.mediatel.com/premium_rate...s/?country=SOM
close

kwak:
252-3-0221000
closer


numberingplans.com says

Information on phone number range +252 30XXXXXXX

Number billable as satellite number
Country or destination Somaliland
City or exchange location Earth
Original network provider* Inmarsat-B

that's interesting.
can anyone confirm this?


???
Somalia (Jilib) 00252 3
Somalia (Kisimayo) 00252 3

???
Belethawo (+252 3)

???
http://hortel.net/our_partner.html


numbering in somalia:
252xxxxx
(must be an old information, now: 7 digits)

Hormuud carrier number ranges
Telecom carrier Hormuud uses the following numbering ranges:

Number range Region
------------ ------
+252 1 xxxxxx Mogadishu and area
+252 3 xxxxxx southern Somalia (Jaamame, Kisimaayo)
+252 4 xxxxxx central Somalia (Buur Hakaba)

Somalia has numerous telecom carriers, which were working under an unregulated environment. Standards and practices, including numbering, may vary according to the region and company involved. However, there is an apparent regulator, Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, issuing announcements through ITU.

http://www.wtng.info/wtng-252-so.html

somalia riddle will be answered by Belgacom?
http://hortel.net/resellers.html

hold the line...

[Hamlet]

This is a very strange story here. We have a list of numbers posted as "fraudulent", we have some basic investigations to find the numbers, we have no clear result - and we have no other hit to that numbers. The person posting the numbers is not giving further information.

So what the f* is this all about?
Some companies are mentioned in the context of "fraudulent" although they are not involved in whatsoever. We had a lot of communication within the team and with regulators and phone comapnies. Still the same old story: are there ways to stop international premium rate numbers or not? As seems as if one could stop FRAUD with IPRN, but this is not completely correct, because: "to stop fraud" only can mean "to stop the fraudster from getting the money". BUT: Who gets the bucks???

Fraudster generating fraudulent traffic on SOMALIA line, worth 100,000 US$
Fraudster got his number from "we are no fraudsters limited" in Cyprus, they offer him 20,000US$. He won't get paid because of fraud.

"we are not fraudsters limited" in Cyprus gets no money from AAA, because AAA says: it is fraud

AAA gets no money from BBB because they say it is fraud

BBB gets no money from CCC ("Belgixovic Telecom") or from SOMALIA Telco because it is fraud

but where is the money?

[screambones]

> The person posting the numbers is not giving further information.

Apologies Hamlet.
Many thanks for your follow up.
I am not sure what further information I can provide you with.
We operate a VoIP service, the PBX was a customer of ours.
The PBX hijacked was Asterisk, the popular open source PBX - (unfortunately many people installing an IP PBX do not understand the risks and leave default or guessable username/passwords for extensions facing the net.)
We don't have access to the PBX logs, afaik these have been forwarded to the fraud squad (UK) for analysis.
The carrier used to terminate the calls was in Ireland, the name is not relevant so I will not mention it. We are talking to the carrier about getting charges reduced to cost so we can pass on any discount to the unfortunate victim.

>kwak telecom is not involved here, according to a statement from a computerbetrug.de member - so don't bother them.
sorry@kwak, I will ask for a deletion.

How is this a reliable source ? All your evidence points to kwak as being the beneficiary. What telco is being allocated anything in less than 100 blocks ?

Kwak: 85099930500
Fraud: 85099930580
Fraud: 85099930551
Fraud: 85099930506

Kwak: 25230221000
Fraud: 25230221005

Kwak: 881942011117
Fraud: 881942011235
Fraud: 881942011238

If they don't own the number blocks they certainly know the trail to follow - so why shouldn't we bother them ? .

[screambones]

>but where is the money?

This is the crux of the matter.
Even when a known fraud has occurred the injured party is unlikely to get any refund and someone (BIG) in the middle get's a large slice of free pie.

How to fix this ?
1) It would be nice if all carriers/providers interconnect agreements were forced by law to refund revenue charged for calls certified by local police as fraudulent.

The problem is now when I go to carrier 'X' they say but I still have to pay carrier 'Y'. Only the big carrier in the middle has the clout to say no to everyone.

2) Any number that generates 'consumer revenue share' should be clearly called premium rate, have proper regulation and protection in place (and definitely have a clearly defined number range).

2) The ITU should oversee allocation of numbers with clear guidelines on 'premium numbers' (or perhaps this exists) and the ITU need a contact for reporting abuse.

Overall the ITU should be leading the charge on this ( just look at their own tag line " By connecting the world and fulfilling everyone’s fundamental right to communicate, we strive to make the world a better and safer place." )

By allowing this to continue it will fragment and isolate specific country codes used for fraud and especially some of the more vulnerable countries.

[Hamlet]

ITU does not see the problem. They did not see the problem in 1996, did not see the problem in 2004, did not see the problem in 2008 and they do not see a problem now.

It's a shame, but a shame nobody notices does not hurt.

[El Gringo]

http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&hl=en&ct=clnk


Page 1
20/2/09Version 3.191(unmarked) REFERENCE INTERCONNECT OFFERING
from eircom Ltd.

ANNEX B
BILLING AND PAYMENT

8.Artificial Inflation of Traffic (“AIT”)

The Networks only consider AIT to be 'fraud' if the customer (victim) is bogus (really the fraudster) or the victim refuses to pay the extortioner (Network Operator)

@ screambones..you may want to read

Page 49
Annex B..para 8
http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&hl=en&ct=clnk

EDIT

these types of contractual agreements are very common in the Telecom industry

here's BT's
http://www.the-scream.co.uk/forums/t30220.html?

so if the mechanism are there to protect the Networks why aren't those same mechanism's used to protect the customer?

[Hamlet]

Kwak: 85099930500
Fraud: 85099930580
Fraud: 85099930551
Fraud: 85099930506

Originally Posted by screambones

numberingplans.com says

Information on phone number range +850 99930XXX
Number billable as premium rate number
Country or destination Korea, North
City or exchange location
Original network provider* Korea Post & Telecommunications Corp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...7s_Republic_of

An egypt (!) company is very active in the Republic of Korea
http://www.koreaittimes.com/story/10...ations-service
Who is that, Orascom???
http://www.otelecom.com/regional_Presence/default.aspx

[Hamlet]

Mike Charlesworth
Carrier Relations Manager
Korea Posts and Telecommunications Corp
Tel: +44 207 308 5555
Fax: +44 207 308 5101

Dictators, fraudsters, ITU ignorance - the wonderful world of modern telecommunication.
http://www.google.de/#hl=de&source=h...=&oq=&gs_rfai=


---


what do you want today? Asian Eggs?
www.aed-web.com

or Premium Rate Numbers?
http://www.aed-web.com/pages/page3.html

what the hell!