Beware, crooks are calling, texting

By Patrick Githinji

Have you ever received a text message congratulating you for a cash prize or subscribe for information for free? If so, then you are not alone.

Despite the positive impact the telecoms sector has had in the country economy, its development has ushered in the proliferation of bogus firms, which cash in on premium SMS rate lines.

Premium rate SMS services are a value-added text message revenue model for mobile service providers’ customers, which are run by premium rate providers and content providers to drive revenue via texts or texts-related services.

Mobile subcribers have been swamped with unwanted text messages informing them that they have won Sh500,000 and to reclaim their cash prize, they have call a given number.

Peter Ouma, 36, is a victim of the short code message con.

"These companies have been sending out text messages telling people they have won a cash prize. I sent them Sh20,000 and immediately they switched off their phone. It is after I visited the Safaricom customer care that I realised I had been conned," Ouma said.

Familiar number

He adds: "If you respond in any way, the scammers will further send messages in an attempt to draw you deeper into the game."

Ouma’s encounter is not different from that of Paul Obune, a Nairobi resident. Obune had been receiving text messages from a "familiar" number he claims to have been licensed by the industry regulator.

"I have never subscribed to such number but they keep on sending information," claims Obune. Efforts to terminate the subscription, he claims, have been futile, forcing him to change his cell phone line.

"When I got the message, I thought it was free. Whenever the message is delivered I am charged a premium. I inquired more so that I could not receive the message again. I texted ‘STOP’ right away. Several weeks later, they started billing me again and my text did not stop them from deducting my airtime," says Obune.

Many of them charge when you reply the text messages. You may not realise it. At the moment, telecom operators are dealing with thousands such complaints, on a daily basis.

But why are mobile phone companies allowing these unscrupulous companies to rip off millions of money from the public?

Early in the year, industry regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) admitted that it had received complaints from members of the public with regard to the unsolicited text messages from unscrupulous telecommunications service providers.

Premium texts

"It is illegal and an infringement of personal privacy for service providers to send unwanted messages to their customers," CCK said.

Shillings&Sense traced sources of these unwanted text messages.

The phone numbers registered were not going through, while others had been switched off. Most vulnerable to these scams are the urban poor and rural residents.

Dishon Kirima a law expert argues that sending texts to people who have explicitly specified they don’t want them is unlawful.

"Unfortunately, you’ll only be entitled to a refund if you didn’t subscribe to the service," Kirima says.

He advises: "If you’re sure you never signed up for the premium texts, don’t delete the message, you may need the details later. You can try to get a refund for any charges incurred through the regulators."

According to CCK, those affected need to lodge complains for further investigations.

In January, the regulator discontinued the use of telecommunication short code 6969 run by Shinda Smart lottery.

To curb this coning business, Safaricom has advised those who receive such messages or fall victim to such frauds to report the same to the police for further investigation.

"Whenever called upon, we have cooperated with the investigating authorities and our input has resulted in the arrest and conviction of a number of criminals involved in perpetuating these kinds of fraud. This is a partnership that will continue."

"Only recently, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Prison Service to allow us to collectively work on ways to stamp the vice, a high proportion of which are being committed from the country’s correctional facilities by convicts working in cahoots with prison warders," says Nzioka Waita, the firm’s Corporate Affairs Director.

Waita added that Safaricom has been doing a lot of awareness creation among our customers through both below-the-line and above-the-line activities.

One of the messages we have continuously relayed is the fact that one cannot win in a promotion they have not participated in and that Safaricom does not solicit any money from those who win in our promotions.