Telecom providers in the Kingdom have renewed warnings to customers to beware of fraudsters calling them, claiming to be representatives of the customer care center and asking for personal details.
Several people have launched complaints after being called by those claiming to be linked to such companies. The fake representative tells the customer that they are the winner of a raffle prize draw worth SR200,000. They then tell them that they can withdraw their cash prize from the bank after giving the caller their personal details including iqama number and bank account number in order for the fund to be transferred.
An Arab News staff member was targeted Thursday evening by a Mohammed Usman, who claimed to be a customer care representative of Zain. He narrated the same story about the same cash prize raffle draw. When the Arab News reporter asked him to verify his identity, the fraudster said his supervisor would be in touch and hung up. The number that appeared on the screen during the call was 0591054001. Repeated attempts to reach the number were not successful.
Arab News spoke to several people who had received such calls recently. Irshad Ahmad, a 43-year-old IT professional from India, said: "These guys are running such rackets using fake SIM cards in order to trap people. They need to be intercepted and punished."
Mobile fraudsters usually target low-income expatriates and try to get hold of their bank details and iqama numbers. When approached by Arab News, Zain's customer service branch as well as the Al-Rajhi bank customer care center not only confirmed that they are not running a raffle or lucky draw at the moment, but also actively cautioned customers to remain vigilant against such fraudulent calls.
Asked what they are doing to stop fraudsters, the Zain official said that such complaints were received in the past and a team of officials is working with the local authorities to stop fraud callers trapping their customers. "The fraudsters will not be spared. It's just a matter of time before they are caught," he said.
Other telecom providers such as STC and Mobily have also issued an alert warning to their customers to beware of fraudsters.
Source: Arab News