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An immediate computer check at the bank showed that somebody had withdrawn money from my account through an ATM booth in Central Jakarta, which was transferred to a South Jakarta housewife's account at the same bank.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