Phone hackers leave RABI with £2k bill
Criminals have hacked into the telephone system of farming charity the RABI and spent nearly £2,000 calling premium-rate numbers.
Telephones at the RABI’s head office in Oxford were targeted at the weekend when hackers accessed voicemail codes and spent hours dialling a premium-rate number, thought to be based in Russia and set up to carry out this kind of fraud.
The fraud was stopped after five hours late on Friday evening (29 November) when telephone provider du Pré noticed the unusual activity and blocked calls to and from the charity. However, in just a few hours they had already cost the RABI around £2,000.
The charity’s phones, including its confidential helpline for farming families in need, were down for 72 hours following the attack, preventing people who may be in urgent need from seeking help. However, the phone lines were up and running again by 3pm on Tuesday.
Chief executive Paul Burrows said: “We help farming families in financial need, often in extreme circumstances. It’s hard to believe someone would sink so low – especially at this time of year – and not only prevent people from getting the help they need, but effectively steal money which we and the people who support us work hard to raise.
“£2,000 could, for example, have bought food vouchers for 10 families at Christmas, paid for a relief worker to help a farmer who has suffered a tragic accident, or paid for 10 lifeline alarms to keep elderly people safe in their own homes.”
He added: “As an organisation we take security very seriously but it seems that all it took was for someone to guess a voicemail code at random.
“We now understand this kind of fraud costs UK businesses at least £16m a year. I should like to warn other organisations and especially other charities to be on their guard in case it happens to them too.
“We were fortunate that our service provider noticed the unusual telephone activity and barred calls before we lost even more money. Other people might not be so lucky. It’s clear we all need to remain vigilant and increase the security in our phone systems.”
The illegal activity, known as “phone phreaking”, involves hacking business telephone systems to initiate outbound calls to premium or long-distance numbers.
The farming industry reacted angrily to news of the crime on the RABI’s Facebook site.
Andrew Luff said: “As a charity close to my family, I am horrified to hear this. So sorry to hear.”
Sarah Prosser said: “How sick people are, disgusting; hope whoever has done it can be brought to justice.”
And Georgina Lamb added: “Gobsmacked. What is wrong with people?”
The RABI is farming’s national charity, providing support for members of the farming community who are in need, throughout England and Wales. Its sister charity RSABI helps those in need in Scotland.
The charity supports more than 2,000 farming families a year with grants of more than £2m. Its work is funded by public donations, money raised at events arranged by the charity’s county committees, businesses and community groups
The UK is now is listed in the top-five “phreaking hotspots” in the world. The average cost to victims of a phreaking attack is £10,000.
RABI builds on its 150-year history
You can make a donation to RABI through its Just Giving page