Tuesday 17 July 2007

Beware of SMS Scams

Beware! This warning from Maxis:
Maxis has advised the public not to respond to SMSes informing subscribers that they had won a cash cheque from the telco.

A Maxis spokesman reminded the public to ignore such SMSes that carried foreign or unusual short codes.

A concerned reader had informed The Star of receiving an SMS that named the mobile service operator, to enhance credibility of the offer.

"I received an SMS telling me that I had won an RM11,000 cash cheque from Maxis and was even asked to log on to their website to confirm my winnings.

"In addition, a foreign 15-digit phone number was given for me to call. Out of curiosity, I called the number but quickly hung up when they asked for my bank account number," said the reader.

She added that the operator on the line also stressed that she needed to have a Maybank account to cash in on her winnings.
It would always be too good to be true when something like this happens. Let's all be aware! More info on this at Star Online Techcentral.

2 comments:

SMS warehouse said...

Hi,
SMS.tv is another company you should avoid. The guy’s name is Jorg Lamber from Germany and he has several different company names under which he operates. (Geißenbrünnchen 32, 66539 Neunkirchen, Germany, +49 6821 1799264) Other names he operates under are Marketing Lambers, Saarpromotion Lamber GmbH – Emails: info@sms.tv, joerg.lambers@sms.tv, support@sms.tv
Here is his MO:
He does 2 things:
1) He uses free email accounts like the one in this URL to promote his fraudulent service: http://www.klenn.de/news//OnlineMail700.html
2) He let you test on a high quality route and when you buy, he degrades the route to low quality or a route where you get false message id’s. When you ask for tech support or confront him about it he close your account and block you on email, MSN, ICQ etc. and when you phone there is just an automated recording that plays.
3) His second trick is not considered fraud by the banks – what he does is give the bank account number of one account at one branch and an IBAN of another account at another branch on his invoices. He requires payment upfront which is not unusual in the SMS industry. The banks use IBAN for international transfers – when you try to stop funds and phone his bank, they do not ask for the IBAN but the bank account number and put a stop funds instruction on that account. In the mean time, the funds goes into the account linked to the IBAN number and when the banks phone him when funds are recalled, he refuse to refund. He also closes your SMS test account the moment he realize that you sent the money. So you sit without money and without the service. Once again he blocks you and cuts of all communication.
So please learn from our mistakes and avoid dealing with SMS.tv as they are the biggest fraudulent scam in the SMS industry.

Adrian Tan said...

If this is genuine, it's really bad! Beware, readers!