>>Fraudsters On The Prowl On MTN Network
How would you feel if you received a text message on MTN 0803 in the early
hours of morning, precisely 7 :30am, that reads thus: "Yellow! Congratulations,
you have won N1 million, your code is 1835Z. Please call MTN staff Niyi on
07031111142 now for your bank wire details. "MTN EVERYWHERE YOU GO?"
This was exactly what happened to one Mr. Kamal John (not real named), a
resident of Abuja, on Saturday morning July 7,2007. He did as instructed by the
text message and put a call to the MTN staff Niyi on the said number and the
response was: "Congratulations, you are one of the lucky winners on MTN promo,
but the payment cannot be made in cash unless your bank account is connected
with Automated Teller Machine (ATM) or if you have UBA X-change card".
The perceived prey who was trying to play along had neither an ATM account nor
UBA X-change card, but rushed to a brother working with UBA to get an X-change
card. Mr. John then called the said MTN staff Niyi who asked for the X-change
card number and the X-change card code number to be sent to account section of
the MTN in order to effect the payment.
The syndicate who has large network facility quickly assessed the account and
replied through a text message that read thus: "Ref # 580413, Transaction
failed. Pay-slip No. #787200, call any staff for more verification. Bank
account failed. Reason-insufficient Funds-minimum balance N30,000-end", through
the same MTN number 0803.
John, who was very curious on the matter, called MTN staff Niyi again and told
him the content of the text message. Then the MTN staff Niyi said, "sorry, I
forgot to tell you, you have to get minimum of N30,OOO in your account before
the payment is effected and you will have Nl,030,000 in your account after the
payment. You go very early on Monday (yesterday) to any UBA Bank and lodge
N30,000 into your X-change account and call us immediately in order to make the
payment", the statement he echoed.repeatedly.
According to the perceived prey, he went straight to the MTN’s office at
Maitama, Abuja, yesterday to confirm the authenticity of the promo where he met
some other subscribers who had come for the same complaints. MTN staff, a lady,
at the operations office, who doubles as a receptionist, handed down a leaflet
with inscriptions that reads: "Beware of Fraudsters! Don’t allow yourself to be
deceived!" Which also stated how winners of MTN promotions will be notified.
When I asked how it was possible for the syndicate to make use of the MTN
network to perpetrate the crime, she said the swindlers make use of the
internet and MTN does not have control of the internet.
Some of the subscribers interviewed blamed the occurrence on the MTN management
who did not give the activities of the fraudsters on its network a wide
publicity which made majority of the public to be duped through the MTN network.
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