Beware of fraudulent calls from Pakistan

BANGALORE, INDIA: Are you getting missed calls from unidentified numbers starting with +92? Feeling tempted to call back to see if it's someone you know? Think twice before you do that as the calls may be from scamsters in Pakistan.

Just yesterday, CIOL reader Pravin Sharma wrote to us: “I also got a miss call from +923044433686. My cell is in CUG. I noticed that almost all my office colleague received missed call from same number.”  He was responding to our story on Vodafone's warning to its customers, which was published in 2010.

That sums up the gravity of  negligence as for over two years there has been no respite from fraudulent calls. Airtel and Vodafone have issued alerts on their website warning people. Vodafone's message reads: “At Vodafone, we care for your security. If you receive a missed call from an unidentified number starting with +92, do not call back or divulge any personal details.''

The Airtel warns: "Do not respond to any unexpected calls from a number with the +92 or +375 country code."

The caller might tell you that you have won a lottery and even go to the extent of tricking you by citing the cheque number.

Do not respond to any unexpected calls from a number with the +92 or +375 country code. Aquil Iqbal Burney says: “I got a missed call today and when I called back on the same number +923340745302 they told me that I'd won an amount of 10 lakhs and the guy gave me Lottery number as 065131 and the cheque number as 465001 and was telling me to call on a number 00923478869110. I took all the information for the sake of lodging a complaint.”

Most of the responses we have got are from Indians. Jyoti Gupta wrote: “Hi All, I am a Vodafone subscriber and I got a missed call from +92 3414801276. I called on that number and there was some ringtone in URDU, a man picked up the phone stating that he is from Vodafone and I have won 25 lakh rupees which i need to collect from their Bandra office he gave me a number to call as well which i did not note. It is very risky to dial such numbers.”

Some of the numbers, which are allegedly being used in this fraud are +923044433686, +923007355415, +923414801276, +923423128685, +923417992778, +923026393127, +923027471183, etc.

If you have had similar experiences please do share them with us.