DO NOT reply to those messages which reads like “You won 850000$, to claim the prize send an email to xxxxx@gmail.com.” – This basically is the international lottery scam witnessing a new spin: Mobile phones are now being used as baits by fraudsters to net victims. Earlier, they used to send e-mails telling people to deposit money to claim big lottery prizes. Now, these emails have been replaced by SMSes.
It works like this: You get a message on your mobile phone with a congratulatory message for winning the lottery and an instruction to furnish details of your bank account. you do so, and cyber criminals empty your account by the time you realize the trap. This shift of modus operandi is because internet users have become more cautious. At times, the SMSes come in the name of big companies.
I recently got a message that I had won 85,000,000$ in a lottery and to claim the prize all I had to do is send an email to xxxxx@gmail.com with my name, age, phone number. Many such messages are finding their way to the mobile in recent times. Interestingly, none of these messages have a source number. Instead, they display a code number to which no reply can be sent through the phone. Some of them are ID-OTD, ID-WEBSMS and TA-OTDC. To send the messages, they use websites which allow free SMS services and when somebody provides their number for any promotional activity, it does not remain private after all.
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