Following the standard procedure, users were contacted and given precise instructions on how to behave in these situations.
“We suggest not responding to missed calls from unknown numbers (usually foreign numbers with a ‘strange’ numeration) and not responding to incoming SMS messages on prizes, quizzes, sweepstakes, etc, particularly when the sender’s number is an unknown number or a short code. In case customers respond, they can become victims of abuse and make high phone bills”, M:tel stated.
The company added that users should immediately delete the calls/SMS messages from the call list of their device, so as not to accidentally make a call or send a message to those numbers.
“If a user called one of those numbers, he/she would start making a connection that is sometimes impossible to stop. Charging is done at very high prices and is possible to get an extremely high phone bill as a result”, M:tel said.
The SMS message stating that the customer is the winner of sweepstakes/or money in the lottery usually contains an e-mail address as the contact with whom he/she should further arrange taking over the prize.
“By sending e-mail to the address, the customer receives an e-mail from the alleged manager containing a form requiring ‘basic information that should be filled’ in by the customer. The basic information is not naive at all, because in addition to the name and surname, they include the number of passport or other personal identification document, in some cases even credit card number along with the number of alleged winning ticket”, the company said.
According to information obtained by the M:tel’s fraud department, in some cases customers are required to submit their signature and return the scanned document to the e-mail address in order to complete alleged reward procedure, which can result in a serious problem for the customers.
