Wangiri Fraud

Wangiri (Japanese for 'one ring and cut') is a fraud where attackers initiate very brief calls to large lists of subscribers from international or premium-rate numbers; victims who call back are charged high termination fees that the fraudster shares. Defences include carrier-side blocking of suspect originating ranges, alerting users to unusual incoming numbers, and consumer-education campaigns.

Categories: Radio Access NetworkIdentity and SubscriberThreats and Attacks

Wangiri Fraud in context

The radio access network is where mobile devices attach to the operator's infrastructure. Attacks in this layer include IMSI catching, rogue base stations and downgrade attacks; defenses rest on mutual authentication, integrity-protected signaling and Open RAN supply-chain hygiene.

Subscriber identifiers (IMSI, SUPI, MSISDN, IMEI) anchor authentication, charging and lawful interception. Any protocol that leaks a permanent identifier is treated as a privacy defect, which is why 5G introduced SUCI concealment on the air interface.

To place Wangiri Fraud in the wider telecom-security picture, review Cell Phone (Mobile Phone), CPE, Firmware, IMEI, IRSF and Malware — each entry cross-references back to this page so you can walk the topic in either direction.

Related terms

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