It seems that the people of Liberia and Chad have taken a sudden interest in having a chat with Irish people this week, as an influx of phonecalls are coming in again.

The foreign number scam is back in force and people in Donegal and the rest of Ireland are becoming more annoyed with unknown numbers ringing at all times of the day.

Calls from countries including Liberia, Tunisia, Morocco, and many other country codes are on the rise. While it’s a great way to brush up on geography, phone users are warned not to answer or return the calls.

Irish communications watchdog ComReg has reiterated warnings to consumers today:

ComReg is aware that scam calls can take on many forms therefore ComReg advises consumers to be vigilant at all times.

We would advise consumers that returning calls to unknown international numbers can be costly and we advise consumers to exercise caution when they receive a missed call from such numbers.

• Hang up immediately, on calls where there appears to be no recipient on the other end.
• Be wary of multiple calls being received from the same number.
• Do not call back any number that leaves you a blank voicemail message.
• Do not provide any personal information for example – banking details PPS number/credit card details/name and address/passport numbers etc.

Unfortunately there is no way to identify a scam call number, and they can resemble a very normal, familiar, geographical number that we would come across on a daily basis.