Businesses and phone users are being urged to be alert to an elaborate international fraud that has already hit the Island.

It has resulted in costly international phone bills being incurred by unsuspecting customers as a result of remote phone hackers.

A spate of such incidents led to a meeting between the Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and E-Commerce and telecommunications companies on the Island in light of the fraud being carried on PBX telecommunications systems in Bermuda.

"We were advised of this when international long distance fraud perpetrators accessed telephone systems in Bermuda and ran up large numbers of long distance minutes by making multiple long distance calls to foreign countries," said Acting Director of Telecommunications Mr. Hiram Edwards.

This fraud involves unknown persons or organisations hacking into a customer's telephone voicemail systems and dialling out to international destinations with the charges accruing to the Bermuda customer's long distance account.

According to a Government statement, this activity is not limited to particular telephone equipment manufacturers, equipment suppliers, or local or long distance service providers.

The Bermuda Police have been alerted and the Department of Telecommunications is advising businesses to examine their long distance telephone bills for unauthorised calls or any unusual call activity to foreign destinations and advise their service providers accordingly. In addition, businesses can help protect themselves from fraud on their telephone systems' voicemail and remote access by ensuring that all employees use passcodes that are secure and changed frequently.

The Ministry said anyone concerned that they may be a victim, or a potential victim, should contact their telephone equipment provider to seek ways to minimise the risk.

Anyone experiencing fraud should report it to the Police by contacting Detective Constable Paul Fenwick at 299-8014 or 295-0011.