Beware of SMS swindlers

Beware of SMS swindlers

From Bisnis Indonesia

On Oct. 3, 2003 I got an SMS giving two cellular phone numbers
telling me to contact them. When I called the numbers amid a
traffic jam that morning, a young woman notified me that I had
won a monthly lottery worth Rp 7.5 million from the Mentari
prepaid card center, which would be transferred to my bank
account the same day.

She later called me several times for 45 minutes, convincing
me in such a professional way that I finally gave her my ATM and
PIN numbers. I was asked to check my account balance at 10 a.m. I
did so in the afternoon only to find Rp 53,000 left, instead of
the prize money.

An immediate computer check at the bank showed that somebody
had withdrawn money from my account through an ATM booth in
Central Jakarta, which was transferred to a South Jakarta
housewife's account at the same bank.

With all my salary gone, I tried to contact the two phone
numbers repeatedly and a man, probably an accomplice, answered
that the woman was still on line or out of the office.

SOEKARMAN
Jakarta