Internet phone users face a Spit of bother

Published on Sunday 9 April 2006 00:41

FIRST there was Spam, now there is Spit.

Users of e-mail must wade through scores of junk messages each morning and risk deleting that all-important business or personal correspondence, and now internet phone systems are being deluged by junk calls which have been given the unhygienic-sounding acronym Spit (SPam over Internet Telephony).

Internet telephone services, also known as Voip (for Voice Over Internet Protocol) are regarded as being one of the most successful developments on the internet. They offer low-cost calls using the internet to transmit data. Calls between computers on the same network are even free.

Last year the online auction company eBay paid 1.4bn to buy Skype, a leading internet telephone company, and supermarket giant Tesco has launched an internet phone service.

The nuisance calls take the form of answerphone messages sent automatically to web phone answering services. The attraction for the junk callers is that their calls will be free, just as the advent of free e-mail allowed marketers to bulk-e-mail millions of unfortunate users at the same time.

And just like the infamous e-mails from Africa which beg for money, internet phone calls asking for cash are emerging from Nigeria. Free calls allow scammers to spend as long as they want wearing victims down with long calls or repeatedly phoning back. And the fact that the calls can be made cheaply from overseas means that "Spitters" need not worry about obeying UK laws on telemarketing.

Technology commentator Brian Baglow said: "This was inevitable. As soon as voice over internet calls became popular it became interesting for scammers. I have had junk calls from people from all over the world.

"One Nigerian was on the phone and saying he was in a serious jam and needed money. I played along for a short while and asked where I should send the money to. He said: 'No, no. Just give me your bank details!' 'Yeah right,' I thought.

"But it's not going to put me off and I don't think it will stop Voip. I use it all the time for calls. All my clients are on internet phone systems and we use it for free calls all the time. It has completely changed my life.

"Just like e-mail and internet providers have brought in software to combat junk e-mail, the internet phone companies will develop fixes to deal with this problem."

It is estimated as many as 74% of all e-mails sent worldwide are Spam. Microsoft boss Bill Gates, one of the world's richest men, is reportedly sent four million Spam e-mails a day.