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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Beware of new phone fraud

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Muscat, August 16 - Beware of the latest phone fraud in the Sultanate. It comes in the form of a text message randomly sent to the mobile users declaring they have won a RO 20,000 cash award.


The message goes on to say he/ she has to contact a person in Ruwi to receive the prize, claimed to have been instituted by the telecom companies.


Even as the message went viral on social media, the company concerned tweeted the letter was “not authentic”.


“The message, worded in Arabic, indicates the sender is not a native speaker of the language because grammatical mistakes were found in it,” said the company.


It urged the people to avoid responding to such messages before getting them verified by the authorities concerned. Last May, a national awareness campaign was kicked off by the Royal Oman Police (ROP), Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), Omantel, Public Prosecution and other stakeholders aimed at preventing online fraud.

The campaign, involving several public and private entities, was titled ‘Don’t be Deceived’.


The logo of the campaign was stamped on the latest fake message, which went viral on social media again. Many such incidents have taken place in the recent past. A person was arrested recently after he allegedly telephoned a radio station with the intent of defrauding it.


A number of phones used for committing fraud were seized from him. A source said the Barka Police Station has continued to investigate the case.


In a similar case, 10 Asian nationals were arrested on charges of phone fraud, said a source in the Royal Oman Police (ROP).


The Department of Criminal Investigation, in cooperation with the Southern Batinah Police, arrested them.


Fahad Al Ghadani


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