Delhi: If this is the SMS flashing on your mobile phone screen, beware. You could be a victim of lottery spam that has invaded cell space
A spam SMS as seen on a mobile phone screen
Sharad Natani, an MBA student couldn't believe his luck when he received an SMS on his mobile phone saying he had won £5,00,000 (Rs 3,53,25000) in an international lottery being held in the UK. The sender of the SMS, YOU HAVE WON, didn't sound familiar but he still tried calling up the number provided in the message to claim his "prize."
He placed a call to the international number and the voice on the other side asked him to deposit £5,000 (Rs 3,53,250) in a certain bank account to redeem his "award." Then, he became suspicious of the "prize" and disconnected the call.
However, Natani is not alone. Sanket Mishra, who works in a financial company, also received a similar SMS. It said, "You have won Rs 25,000 or an iPod or a Ringtone. Call +23222289840 and find out how to claim your prizes. Rates applicable." This SMS was from the sender: 02TELEMMS. Fortunately, Mishra dismissed the SMS as a fake and didn't spend on making the international call.
But not everyone may be as lucky. Messages about fake lottery awards, which used to rule the cyber space earlier, have now invaded cell phones as well. These hoaxes, mostly hatched and executed by Nigerian fraudsters, aim at duping people into depositing a certain amount of money in a bank account to claim a bigger "award." These crooks are now cashing in on the booming Indian telecom industry by sending fake SMSes to mobile subscribers in the country.
"Nigerian fraudsters with fake identities send more than 1,000 SMSes everyday. They are successful in trapping around 30 to 40 mobile users per day. When a trapped user reverts to the SMS, the fraudsters give a bank account number and ask them to deposit cash to redeem the award. They provide an Indian bank account number to sound more authentic. This is just the mobile phone variant of the old fake lottery emails," said Sunny Vaghela, a cyber crime expert, who has been monitoring these scamsters for long.
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How they track our phone numbers
These spammers get mobile database from free SMS websites. These websites are visited by a large number of users to send free SMSes to mobile subscribers across the world. "Most of these websites do not disclose their users' identity but there are some who allegedly sell details of users for very little amounts, sometimes as low as 60 cents," Vaghela said.
Many vendors of mobile ringtones, games and logos sell lists of user numbers as well, since the threat of detection is low.
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Source: Mid Day
A spam SMS as seen on a mobile phone screen
Sharad Natani, an MBA student couldn't believe his luck when he received an SMS on his mobile phone saying he had won £5,00,000 (Rs 3,53,25000) in an international lottery being held in the UK. The sender of the SMS, YOU HAVE WON, didn't sound familiar but he still tried calling up the number provided in the message to claim his "prize."
He placed a call to the international number and the voice on the other side asked him to deposit £5,000 (Rs 3,53,250) in a certain bank account to redeem his "award." Then, he became suspicious of the "prize" and disconnected the call.
However, Natani is not alone. Sanket Mishra, who works in a financial company, also received a similar SMS. It said, "You have won Rs 25,000 or an iPod or a Ringtone. Call +23222289840 and find out how to claim your prizes. Rates applicable." This SMS was from the sender: 02TELEMMS. Fortunately, Mishra dismissed the SMS as a fake and didn't spend on making the international call.
But not everyone may be as lucky. Messages about fake lottery awards, which used to rule the cyber space earlier, have now invaded cell phones as well. These hoaxes, mostly hatched and executed by Nigerian fraudsters, aim at duping people into depositing a certain amount of money in a bank account to claim a bigger "award." These crooks are now cashing in on the booming Indian telecom industry by sending fake SMSes to mobile subscribers in the country.
"Nigerian fraudsters with fake identities send more than 1,000 SMSes everyday. They are successful in trapping around 30 to 40 mobile users per day. When a trapped user reverts to the SMS, the fraudsters give a bank account number and ask them to deposit cash to redeem the award. They provide an Indian bank account number to sound more authentic. This is just the mobile phone variant of the old fake lottery emails," said Sunny Vaghela, a cyber crime expert, who has been monitoring these scamsters for long.
--------------------------------
How they track our phone numbers
These spammers get mobile database from free SMS websites. These websites are visited by a large number of users to send free SMSes to mobile subscribers across the world. "Most of these websites do not disclose their users' identity but there are some who allegedly sell details of users for very little amounts, sometimes as low as 60 cents," Vaghela said.
Many vendors of mobile ringtones, games and logos sell lists of user numbers as well, since the threat of detection is low.
Source: Mid Day
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