• Beware! Airtel Warns Users of SMS Scam

    Beware! Airtel Warns Users of SMS Scam

    Techtree News Staff, Feb 03, 2009 1749 hrs IST

    Criminals devise new way to dupe innocent people

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Cyber frauds are nothing new in India, every now and then we hear about people getting duped by unsolicited e-mails received from Nigeria, UK.

It seems criminals have devised a new way to dupe innocent people via SMS. An alert on Airtel's website is cautioning it's users to be vary of such fraudsters.

According to Airtel, "an instance has come to notice in one of the circles wherein some subscribers have received SMS of the type - !Urgent! Your number has been selected for a $5,000 prize guaranteed! To claim your prize call +423697497456/ +447024054367.  The above SMS is sent through bulk SMS product and is a type of Premium Rate Service Fraud (PRS) operated by organized gangs. The intent of the SMS is to induce the subscribers to call international numbers as listed above which have very high terminating rates. When the subscriber calls the number he is usually connected to a recorded message and the customer is billed a high amount. Replying to such SMS's could also result in viruses being downloaded on the subscriber's phone."

The disclaimer put up on the Airtel website:

"Unsolicited fraudulent SMS's are being sent to various subscribers informing them that they have won a prize and need to call an international number to collect their prize. When calls are made to the number in the text message the subscribers are billed a high amount (upto Rs 500 per minute). Subscribers are cautioned not to respond to such SMS's."

But worry not, TRAI will now be able to nab mobile phone spammers.




Have you been victim to such fraud? Do let us know through your comments.

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Discussion Board
(8) Comments
Omrit
,Oramabad, on Oct 20, 2010 01:03 PM
Even I got the msg and guess what I won 5000$! It has been transferred into my account last week.
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Anshal
,Bangalore, on Oct 01, 2009 08:56 AM
Yes even i received similar smsont just once but 2-3 times, being educated enough & understanding the fact that it is just a spam..i ignored it. But, i think airtel should not ignore it & should not think that just by putting up a disclaimer they are done with it! Airtel should take appropriate action against people who are sending it (since the one who sent it must have purchased the service from Airtel itself), atleast on moral grounds if nothing else.
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naveen
,kochi, on Aug 10, 2009 05:04 PM
i got a msg saying WINNER ! My number IS CHOSEN FOR $2500 CASH PRIZE,CALL +447864417506 NOW.. i am sure that it was a fraud msg. pls try to trace these numbers and help customers in stop getting such msgs and help them, stop being the victims of such frauds.
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Aswin
,Erode, on Mar 14, 2009 11:07 AM
Thanks for the news. I ll never respond to such sms
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Abrar
,Navi Mumbai, on Feb 27, 2009 03:51 PM
yes!!!!!!!!!! even i received same kind of message,telling that ihave won so much of money, on my email i just replied to that email then they said that i need to pay $399 first.
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amit
,bangalore, on Feb 04, 2009 11:26 AM
I have been a victim of such a Fraud, but the number was an Indian number. The message said that "You have been selected and you will be offered either cash,ipod or something else". I called to the number and the response was a voice recorded one, so I guessed it as a fraud and disconnected the connection. I and my friend have received the same sms multiple time.
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Akshay
,Manimajra, on Feb 03, 2009 07:44 PM
i got one such message.... but i am aware of these fraud tricks... i didnt respond
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Ash
,mumbai, on Feb 04, 2009 11:18 AM
even i got tuis message, as it was a UK number it has to be spam. There are many such spams happening there.
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