What's the best way to warn people about SMS scammers? According to the UK Office of Fair Trading, it's behaving like one. The OFT sent out text messages on the 15th of February saying "Urgent! U may have won £1k cash with '2 Good 2 B True'." These were followed up later with a second text explaining the scam.
18-24 year olds were targetted by the scheme, launched in response to estimates that 6% of scam victims are aged between 15 and 24. The OFT also took the opportunity to plug SMSus, a PhonePayPlus-run service that lets you text in a premium rate number and receive an automatic reply with the costs, details of service provider and contact / complaints details. PhonePayPlus is the regulator for phone-paid services.
An innovative way to get the message across or patronising the intended audience? Did you get one? Were you surprised when the culprits revealed themselves? You tell us.
Office of Fair Trading [via The Register]
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