Women Share Experience Of Hoax Callers, Warn Others
Two Labasa women saved themselves from being swindled by hoax callers who congratulated them this week for winning $ 500,000 and $ 200,000 respectively.
The first caller identified himself as a Vodafone representative.
Roselyn Lata said: “I received a call on Viber on Wednesday informing me that I had won $500,000 and to collect the money from a Vijay Verma who lives in London.” Ms Lata, 33, of Tuatua Housing said the caller told her to contact Mr Verma who would then send the money via Western Union
“I was working when I received the call. I was astonished looking at the unknown international number showing a Vodafone logo on my phone screen,” she said.
“I told the caller that I have not participated in any contest, but he said that the number was randomly picked by Vodafone.
“I felt afraid and concerned about my private details being hacked since I have my emails and other applications open on my mobile phone.”
The other woman Anjelene Mudaliar, 38, of Waiqele, Labasa received a similar call at 8am yesterday while dropping off her son at school.
“The caller congratulated me saying that he was from Vodafone and I had won $200,000,” Ms Mudaliar said.
“The caller spoke in Hindi with a Punjabi accent; claiming he was from the Dubai Duty Free Call working with Vodafone Fiji
“I was annoyed then I recalled that my friend had shared a similar experience the day before and then I immediately disconnected the call.” Vodafone Fiji Head of E-Commerce and Corporate Affairs Shailendra Prasad in a statement said: “Vodafone wishes to advise that these are hoax calls and messages sent through Viber are with the intention to defraud customers.
“Vodafone continues to block such international numbers that have been identified as the origins of these hoax messages,” Mr Prasad said.
“Viber is third party Over the Top (OTT) app not within the control of network operators and consumers are advised to make themselves aware of the risks associated with using such third party applications,” he said.
The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCC) said they were aware of the issue. “We are concerned about a number of fake emails and calls to individuals that they have won one of the Dubai Duty Free promotions winning a luxury car to winning a million dollars,” chief executive officer Joel Abraham said. “Refrain from sending any personal details, money or respond in any way,” he said.