Alert notification on the smartphone screen. Flat vector
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) is warning members of the public to be alert for possible telephone credit scams.
On Thursday, the GPF said that fraudsters operate under the pretext that they are employed as agents of a particular telephone company and they are contacting unsuspecting members of the public via text, soliciting personal information.
Thereafter, the fraudsters will then send a code via text to unsuspecting persons, and once accepted, the credit will be deducted from their phones.
In light of this, members of the public are therefore urged to not respond to such messages and to avoid clicking on links in unknown messages.
The GPF further stated that they are currently working with the telephone companies to address this issue.
Over the past few years, Guyanese across the country have been defrauded of huge sums of cash and the wave of cell phone scams is continuing. Two years ago, it was said by one of Guyana’s telephone companies that little can actually be done by the company to tackle the scam artists since the issue does not originate from them.
Despite advisories and messages often being sent out to customers advising them to be wary of scams, several persons continue to be victims.
Earlier this year, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) had urged all subscribers to be vigilant of scammers, in light of the company’s recent Christmas promotion and upcoming anniversary promotions.
Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Mobile Service, Richard Stanton said while the company has not received a huge amount of scam reports this year compared to previous years, the company is still keen on advising customers to be vigilant.
“Based on reports over the years, customers are oftentimes urged to top up an account, send MMG or even pay money to uplift prizes. We would never ask a customer for money to uplift any prize,” the COO stressed.
He added: “All of our promotions are reflected on our social media pages and even on our website via https://www.gtt.co.gy/promotions; so, we urge our subscribers to be aware of these scammers to avoid being conned.”
The COO also reminded that customers can query promotions through the company’s customer care line on 0488, its live chat via gtt.co.gy, and through its customer service representatives at any GTT store. (G9)
