Guys, heads up; there’s a new scam in town.
Yeah I know; hardly revolutionizing news.
However, this one’s kind of different, in the sense that it involves your…
Mobile phone bill.
Sadly, it is.
According to Stomp, there’s been an increase in fraudulent purchases charged to mobile phone bills.
It’s even gotten to a point where the police has alerted the public about it.
What happened?
Reports made by multiple victims notified that they had sustained charges to their mobile phone bills, after supplying a three-digit PIN number to strangers whom they had connected with via Facebook.
Incidentally, the police have received 130 such cases, a significant 120% mark-up between January and November 2017.
The total amount scammed so far in 2017 accumulates to at least $16,000, and these cases are still being reported even in December.
How does the scam work?
In majority of these cases, the scammers will first approach the victims by sending them friend requests on Facebook, occasionally even making Facebook accounts that are similar to that of the victims’ friends.
They would then proceed to request for the victims’ mobile phone numbers and mobile service providers.
Thereafter, the scammers would purchase gaming credits or online gift cards online, using the victims’ mobile phone numbers. The purchases’ll then be charged to the victims’ mobile phone bills after the victims hand their One Time Passwords (OTP) or Verification Codes to the Scammers.
On the victims’ side, they realise that they have been scammed only when they receive their mobile phone bills.
Precautionary measures
Stomp has some helpful measures for the folks out there, which they can use to protect themselves:
- Do not share your personal information including OTP/Verification codes with anyone. Such information is useful to scammers and could potentially be used for purchases charged to your mobile phone bills.
- Be wary of friend requests from strangers on social networking sites. They may not be who they claim to be.
- If you receive a friend request from a friend on social networking sites, verify with your friend via another means of communication before accepting the request.
- Report any fraudulent charges detected on your mobile phone bill to your mobile service provider immediately.
- If in doubt, please call the Anti-Scam Helpline at 1800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg.
Always pay heed to what you’re doing
In conclusion, you can surmise as follows:
If that pretty girl who’s been chatting you up for three hours straight asks you for your mobile phone number…
Don’t.
Of course, it could legitimately be a girl who’s genuinely interested in you.
But better safe than sorry, right?
Since you’re here, why not watch a video about an NTU student who went all out to impress his crush, only to end up in…tragedy? Here, watch it and do remember to share it (and also subscribe to Goody Feed YouTube channel)!
This article was first published on goodyfeed.com
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Featured image: Singapore Police Force
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