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THE CALLS DO NOT ACTUALLY COME FROM THE UK, BUT FRAUDSTERS USE SOFTWARE TO MAKE THE CALL APPEAR AS THOUGH IT DOES Scammers are using UK phone numbers, which begin with the prefix +44 or

0044, to target people in France, as investigators warn people to stay alert. RISE IN CALLS Increased numbers of people in France have reported receiving scam or suspicious calls from

unknown numbers that appear to come from the UK.  A 'scam hunter' and online streaming expert known as Centho was interviewed by RMC Conso. He said that calls from English numbers

are becoming more widespread. “The scams are not new, we have been seeing them for over a year and a half now,” he said. “What is new is that scammers are increasingly calling from UK

numbers.” Users on online forum website Reddit have also been reporting increased calls of this kind, while the scam reporting website Signal-Arnaques has also seen an increase in reports.

Signal-Arnaques co-founder Jean-Baptiste Boisseau told RMC Conso that he is receiving an average of one report a day of scam calls that appear to come from a UK number. “We have been seeing

+44 calls for several years now, even for other types of scam,” he said. “Now we are seeing more and more of those. Often the first digit after 44 is a 7.” Read also: Scams in France: watch

out for these telephone prefixes Read more: Alert over Wangiri telephone scams in France  ARE THE CALLS REALLY FROM THE UK? No, these calls do not actually come from callers in the UK.

Instead, the criminals are ‘spoofing’ UK-based numbers to appear more legitimate (using software to make their call appear as though it is coming from a different number). Centho added that

the scam networks can use technology to help them make tens or even hundreds of thousands of phone calls, and are increasingly using UK-based numbers to appear more credible. “I imagine

they're doing it to give the impression that it's a big, rich English company that is calling,” he said. “But they could very well do it with other numbers.” In reality, most of

the calls come from scammer groups organised by ‘mafia’ gangs based in Southeast Asia, found recent investigations by Le Monde and Radio-Canada. Many of the callers are victims themselves,

and come from countries including Kenya, Uganda, and India on the promise of a job in IT. Instead, they are trafficked to Southeast Asia (including to Laos, Cambodia, and Burma) and then

held as ‘cyber slaves’ by mafia networks, forced to work as scammers. Investigations by international police agency Interpol, with the help of several NGOs, have helped to dismantle some of

these gangs in recent years, but they continue to pop up. Calls from apparent ‘UK numbers’ have become more common in recent months and weeks. WHAT DO THE CALLERS SAY? Many of the calls,

which are sometimes recorded messages, typically tell the recipient that they have been offered an easy, work-from-home job. These ‘jobs’ require the recipient to perform simple tasks - such

as watching a video, or rating a hotel online - in return for payment in cryptocurrency. In some cases, nothing appears to be amiss. Some victims have even been paid for the first few tasks

they carry out. “The crooks [then] assume that the victim is not going to be suspicious of them,” said Centho. “So [the fraudsters] ask the victim to pay a little to unlock even more tasks

to be carried out, promising that they will make even more money. But after a while, no money is paid [and their money is stolen instead].” And if you call back on the same number, you are

unlikely to reach anyone, as the number is ‘spoofed’ and in reality is not assigned to a genuine caller. WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I RECEIVE A CALL? The advice is if receiving an unexpected call

out of the blue from an unknown UK number which will start with +44 or 0044 to simply ignore it. A legitimate caller will probably leave a message, send a text, or contact you in another

way. If you do answer, and it appears to be a scam, do not respond. Hang up and report the call and number to Signal-Arnaques.