Consumers will be blocked from making telephone calls to 13 countries next month in an attempt to crack down on Internet fraudsters who are targeting Irish consumers. Jamie Smyth, Technology Reporter, reports.
From October 4th firms such as Eircom and Esat BT will have to block all direct-dial calls to the Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Nauru and a host of other small countries, most of which are in the South Pacific.
The Commissioner for Communications Regulation (ComReg) said yesterday it was taking the "exceptional" action because of an upsurge in cases of "modem hijacking", whereby Internet hackers based in offshore locations re-route a computer user's link to the Internet.
Since the start of the year, more than 300 consumers have fallen victim to these auto-dialling frauds, which in one case cost an Irish business telephone charges of €12,000.
Auto-dialling fraud or modem hijacking enables a fraudster to install software on a consumer's machine without their knowledge and change their Internet dial-up settings. The fraudster can then claim a portion of the cost of this telephone call, which is usually charged at rates of up to €5 per minute instead of the typical charge of one to five cents.
The most common type of websites which use auto-dialler programmes are adult sites or unofficial music download sites, which use it as an alternative payment method to credit cards.
ComReg has also directed Internet service providers (ISPs) to inform their customers about software or hardware that can block auto-dialling frauds. ISPs will now have to contact their customers within two weeks to inform them about these options.
The decision to block calls to the 13 countries will anger the affected states, which could suffer from a loss of travel and other business activity.
The embassy of the Cook Islands to the European Community has already written to ComReg expressing its opposition to the proposals.
Comreg has also noted that its action may affect Ireland's obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and trade (GATT). Under this agreement Ireland is obliged to eliminate obstacles to trade and the maintenance of open telecommunications networks.
Eircom said it was a very serious decision to cut off telecoms access to any country.