A quick note to inform all our readers that Airtel has posted a small note of caution on their website about an unsolicited fraud SMS. It asks the users to ignore the message as a reply to it could cost them up to Rs. 500. Ouch! Full text below:
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.
It’s a good thing that Airtel is notifying its customers but looks like a half-hearted attempt from them. Sending an SMS to its subscribers would prevent gullible users from getting fooled.
PS: If you have received the message or have replied to the same, do let us know in the comments.
Update: More info given by Rakesh. Thanks!
“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.”
Hi, I found some related info on this issue from techtree.
“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.”