Interruption on etisalat’s mobile services
After receiving a SMS from Etisalat that I will be having an interruption on my mobile phone services from 1am to 6am, August 18, I directly browsed the internet to see if there is any news related about the Etisalat’s mobile phone services interruption tomorrow but I did’nt find any besides from report of electronic scams.
Sample image from Mikko
So the interruption is due to the reported electronic scams which have been recorded over a period of seven months now and that Etisalat is going to update their system to avoid scam problems. Electronic scams through email, SMS and phone calls are the methods use by these swindlers.
An official has commented on the matter and said that this all starts with what is called social engineering. The victim receives a phone call or an e-mail saying that he or she has won a big prize. The fraudsters convince the victim that in order for the prize to be delivered, he or she has to pay a certain amount as a fee or transfer money as phone credit. Once the transaction happens, the fraudster ends the call.
Fraudulent e-mails have been used to steal credit card or bank details and phone calls are made offering pirated software.
The high incidence of such scams has led the police to launch a comprehensive awareness campaign. The campaign aims at educating the public about the consequences of falling victim of such fraud. As part of the campaign, more than nine million messages was sent to mobile phone users in the UAE.
