BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TELECOMS officials have cautioned subscribers to be wary of emails and SMS text messages giving false directives in relation to calls as they are only scams designed to swindle credit from mobile phone customers.
During the month of January, an email had been issued by an Andrew Smith who claims to be a “Cellular Service Manager” of an unknown company. It stated, “If you receive a phone call on your mobile from any person saying that he/she is a company engineer, or saying that they're checking your mobile line and you have to press # 90 or # 09 or any other number, end this call immediately without pressing any numbers. There is a fraud company using a device that once you Press # 90 or # 09 they can access your 'SIM' card and make calls at your expense.”
Another similar email warned mobile customers not to answer any call that displayed the letters XALAN. The email further stated that if the call is answered, a virus would “infect your phone and will erase all IMEI and IMSI information from both your phone and your SIM card, which will make your phone unable to connect with any network”.
VP Corporate Communications Laverne Caines informed SKNVibes that the emails and texts sent to customers’ phones are a part of a number of scams created to mislead mobile subscribers.
“Scams of this and similar nature have frequently popped up so customers must be very aware of this. However, if customers receive information of such a scam, they must contact us at LIME immediately to verify how true it is. If there is any doubt, customers are encouraged to call to ascertain if there is authenticity in the message.
“I must note that it is standard procedure for us to notify our customers in a timely manner to safeguard them as we can’t allow fraudsters to mislead our subscribers.”
There had been a similar case in November of last year when many subscribers were receiving calls bearing the prefix “+882” which were reducing their credit by XCD $15 per minute once they answered or returned the calls. There has been no information forthcoming in relation to the origin of these and other communications but Caines informed that LIME is working assiduously to investigate such scams in an effort to reduce their frequency.
When contacted, representatives of Digicel St. Kitts-Nevis indicated that they would “look into the matter”.
