Many mobile phone users have been receiving text messages informing them that they have won a prize or inviting them to install and use 3G service on their phone. These are among the scams that users are still falling for. People have lost significant amounts of money on information that was supposed to be free.

People have lost significant amounts of money on information that was supposed to be free.

Pham Chat, a mobile phone user, reported that during Tet he had received many text messages from an unknown number to congratulate him on winning prizes that were worth hundreds of thousands of VND. All he had to do to collect these seemingly fantastic prizes was to reply to another unknown number as directed in the text message. But of course, there were no prizes. Mr. Pham not only received nothing but he also frustratingly realised that a good sum of money had been deducted from his mobile account.

Another mobile user, Ms. Mai, complained to DTiNews about frequently receiving text messages from unknown numbers that asked her to SMS to 6776 to collect a prize or receive instructions on how to use and install 3G service on her mobile. 15,000 VND is the fee for this service, while it would cost users nothing to read those instructions for free on Viettel’s website.

Viettel customer service centre also confirmed that they have received many complaints from their mobile users about this problem. Another type of scam that people often fall for even more, is when somebody who claimed themselves to be a Viettel staff called up to congratulate and asked the users to SMS to completely unknown numbers.

Viettel’s representatives have said that these are all scams and not endorsed by or related to the company. The mobile network company had posted information about 3G, how to install and use it, the pricing, etc. properly on its official website since the time that 3G was first introduced. This information is available, for free, at any given time on the company's website.

Previously, the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) issued out warnings about these scams. Vietnam mobile phone users now need be more aware and cautious when receiving text messages from numbers that are in these forms, 01xxxxxxxxx, 09xxxxxxxx, landline numbers; ones which inform the users that they have won a prize or request users to SMS to other numbers that are in the form of 6xxx or 8xxx to collect their prizes.

VNCERT also warned mobile users about costly fees when texting numbers that are in the form of x7xx (15,000VND), x6xx (10,000VN), x5xx (5000VND), x4xx (4000VND), x3xx(3000VND), x2xx (2000VND), x1xx (1000VND), and x0xx (500VND).