SMS scams: don’t be a victim
There has been a increase in the number of cell phone scams in the last few months, unsuspecting victims have lost money in the process.
LIMPOPO – There has been a increase in the number of cell phone scams in the last few months, unsuspecting victims have lost money in the process.
According to Scamwatch, which is an online watchdog on the latest scams, the new cell phone scams occur in several different ways.
The scams are done in three ways:
1. Unexpected prize or lottery scam – a targeted person will receive the SMS that they have been selected as the winner of a cash prize and must either call back on a given number or SMS back. This then costs a lot of money that is billed to the “winner” unknowingly.
2. Ringtone SMS scam – a person is send an SMS for free ring tones when they reply by SMS and are billed huge amounts of money without their knowledge.
3. Special offer scam – a person is given a special offer on something like insurance and asked to call or send an SMS to a number. When the person calls they are asked to pay a specified amount of money to a bank account or buy airtime and send the code to a phone number given.
Scamwatch gave the following warning signs on scams like these:
• SMS received looks like an advertisement or winning of a prize.
• There are no terms and conditions to stop receiving the SMS.
• Numbers to be phoned in claiming the prize are linked to one name only.
According to the Wireless Application Service Providers Association (WASPA), there are ways that people can protect themselves from these scams.
These preventative measures include:
1. Do not reply to the messages sent.
2. Be aware of numbers starting with 19 or 019, these numbers are charged at extremely high tariffs.
3. Inform service providers of charges being made to bills without permission.
Scams like these can be reported to WASPA by e-mail to info@waspa.org.za
