DOHA: Ooredoo yesterday warned customers not to trust ‘spam calls’ from unknown numbers that ask for personal or monetary information, or pretend to be calling from Ooredoo or any other Qatar organisation.
In recent weeks, there have been an increase in the number of complaints from customers who were called from numbers that appear to from within Qatar, and were told they had won a major competition. The scam team then asks the person to send the numbers of Hala top-up vouchers as a ‘processing fee’.
The company said no such competition is taking place and that it will never ask for Hala voucher numbers from customers over the phone. It added that customers should not share personal information, particularly banking details and customer codes, with unknown parties.
The company is working with authorities to track the people involved in the scam.
“We are aware of issues relating to fraudulent calls, and doing everything we can to locate the source of the problem and prevent it from happening. We ask customers to be cautious when receiving such calls and never share personal information or financial details,” said Fatima Sultan Al Kuwari, Director, Community and Public Relations, Ooredoo.
Ooredoo is supporting measures to prevent people from being affected by such calls. Customers can report the numbers to Ooredoo via its social media sites so that Ooredoo can log and block them from their system.
Customers can also block unwanted local SMS numbers via the Ooredoo App ‘block list’ by inserting the sender’s number.
Customers need to download the latest version of Ooredoo App for free via Google or iTunes Store and register to begin a local ‘block SMS list’. They can add and remove names from the block list 24/7.
In addition to providing the blocking feature, Ooredoo advises customers not to answer calls or respond to SMS from international or local numbers they do not recognise. Customers can report spam numbers to the company by sending a message to Ooredoo Qatar’s online community (http://community.ooredoo.qa) Facebook or Twitter pages.
The Peninsula
