LIME investigates cell phone scam

By Terresa McCall
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – LIME (bMobile) subscribers on St. Kitts and Nevis have been victims of what is believed to be a cell phone scam that seeks to cheat persons out of the credit they have on their cellular telephones.

Reports reaching SKNVibes indicate that in recent days, persons within the Federation have been receiving overseas phone calls from numbers bearing the prefix “+882” but when they activate the call, the person at the other end disconnects it.

Persons inquisitive enough to want to ascertain who the caller is and the nature of the call, have returned these calls and, as they have explained to SKNVibes, are greeted by what appears to be an answering machine which prompts them to leave a message.

One individual explained that on returning the call and after realising it was an automated system to which he was connected, he disconnected the call. Shortly thereafter, and before making any other calls, he checked his cellular credit balance and discovered that after the approximate one minute call which he placed to the “strange number”, some $15 was deducted from his account.

Other persons have indicated to this media house that when they returned calls to these “strange numbers”, the call was activated from the distant end but no responses were given for their hellos. The absence of these responses, the individuals further explained, caused them to disconnect the call and just as others have noticed, the calls cost an approximate $15 per minute.

The numbers from which persons in the Federation have received calls include +88213220039, +88313229016, +88213220030, +88213220011, +88213229020 and +88213229028.

In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, LIME’s Corporate Communications Vice President Lavern Caines explained that the telecommunications provider (Landline Internet Mobile Entertainment) is aware of the situation and is currently making investigations into the origin of the scam. She said her company recognises that this has proven disconcerting to its customers and management is working assiduously to pinpoint and address the issue.

Caines noted that an official release concerning the strange occurrences would be forthcoming, and she further explained that persons receiving calls from numbers bearing the prefix “+882” should not answer them or return calls originating from those numbers.

She said the occurrences seem to be part of a scam aimed at swindling credit from both LIME and its customers.