Hello…is anyone there?

Mobile phone users should be careful returning missed calls the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) has warned.

AMTA CEO Chris Althaus said mobile phone users needed to be aware of a recent 'missed call' scam which involved the generation of a numbers and terminating them prior to connection.

Receivers of the missed calls who were lured into returning the calls were then subjected to a recorded message directing them to call a premium 190x number to collect free mobile content and a chance to win a prize.

“It can take some time connected to the premium number to claim the prize and may involve further steps, such as sending an SMS to another 19 number,” Altheus said.

He said it is important for people to check the cost before dialling a premium voice number (190x) or a premium text (19x) number. They are both premium rate services and people will be charged at a higher rate.

“The industry’s strong advice on these sorts of schemes is to be very wary of missed calls unless they are from numbers that customers recognise, Altheus said. "If you receive an offer that is too good to be true – it probably is. Be wary of ‘free’ offers. Are they free or are you paying for them elsewhere?”