Fake lotteries: People fall victims to simple mobile hoaxes

Scores of people have been tricked through calls and text messages.

SWAT:

Resisting a call about you having won Rs0.5 million in a lottery is not the easiest thing to do. Coupled with low awareness and you will find a number of unsuspecting victims, willing to deposit an upfront of Rs50,000 to claim their winnings. Never mind the fact that it does not make any sense to pay up for a lottery that you have supposedly won.

A number of people in Swat have fallen victims to such fraud, falling victims to fraudulent calls and/or text messages.

Zakir Hussain, a resident of Matta Tehsil, received an SMS telling him that he had won a lottery. “[The SMS said] that I had won Rs500,000 and to claim the money I had to pay Rs50,000. I borrowed money and sent it in instalments through Easypaisa,” he said, adding that the process took over five months. He is yet to receive his prize money.

Another resident of Saidu Sharif shared the story of his relative, who also received a similar message. “I tried warning him but he did not believe me and accused me of being jealous of his good fortune. Later, he returned asking for help in tracing the number that had deceived him. But it was a futile effort since the number was powered off.”

The fraudsters do not limit themselves to fake lottery winnings. Some pretend to be representatives of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). These ‘representatives’ work for small money, instead of gunning for the big catch.

“I received a phone call in which the caller welcomed me into a lottery scheme of BISP and asked me to send mobile balance worth Rs200 to process my lottery. I sent the amount on the number and waited but got no response. Later, when I tried calling the number, it was powered off,” Barkat Ali, a resident of Banjot, told The Express Tribune.



Anwar Khan, BISP Assistant Director at Charbagh Tehsil, said that many people have visited his office with complaints. “Some fraudsters contact the people who have registered for BISP programmes, giving them false alarms of winning cash prizes and grand schemes. To put an end to the practice, we have issued various statements, urging people not to give in to such messages,” he said, adding that people should contact the BISP offices whenever they receive such an SMS or call.

Meanwhile, according to officials in a local Telenor franchise, many people visit them after being deceived, but they can only send the provided number of the deceiver to the head office and have it blocked. “Despite being warned repeatedly, even educated and well-to-do people fall for such traps,” said an official of the franchise.

A shopkeeper who deals in Easypaisa, said that they keep records of the receiver of money with key information such as copies of the Computerised National Identity Card and cellphone numbers. He added the callers can be traced easily with intervention by the police and government institutions.

Saidu Police Station House Officer Ghani Rehman denied getting any complaints. However, he said, “anyone who is tricked in such manner, should register a complaint with the local police, giving the caller’s complete contact detail so that action can be taken after carrying out investigation.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2012.