KUWAIT: Many competitions and events are generally organized during the holy month of Ramadan and Eid. Taking advantage of the opportunity these occasions present, swindlers are hard at work to trick gullible citizens and residents. Mobile phone scams had spread like wildfire a few years ago. Scamsters resorted to dubious measures to send random SMS messages. Mobile phone users replied to their messages that made promises of grandiose wealth, whether in the form of cash, vehicle or other means.

After this scam was publicized, telecommunication providers issued warnings to subscribers, so did the Ministry of Interior. Swindlers then began using the names of famous companies to make their fraudulent messages appear authentic, leading mobile phone users to believe them.

The latest in a series of fraudulent SMS messages landed a local telecommunication service provider in hot soup. The messages not only reached hundreds of company clients, it also reached subscribers of another telecommunication service provider, " A large number of our clients called us on the first day of Eid complaining about receiving some SMS messages asking them to reply so as to win attractive prizes.

The clients complained about having replied to these messages, until they ran out of balance without winning anything," Abdulrahman, an employee from the Customer Care Department at a the local mobile telecommunication company told the Kuwait Times.

The company has advised its subscribers to exercise caution, "Clients should be careful. The company cannot block all the numbers that send fraudulent SMS messages. Such SMS messages are sent from international numbers that cannot be detected. The company cannot always sue them for the usage of its name for deceitful purposes," added Abdulrahman.

Strangely, fraudulent SMS messages that make tall claims about the user winning an exorbitant amount of KD 250,000 as Eid Al-Fiter prize from a (local telecommunication service provider ) was received by a subscriber of another service provider. So, it is advisable to think twice before pressing that Send button on your phone again! - Kuwait Times