Doha: Qtel has stepped up its efforts to block suspect international numbers and is working to increase customer awareness to reduce the inconvenience of unwanted “spam” calls and SMS from foreign countries.
Over the past several weeks, customers have reported receiving irritating and disturbing calls from random international numbers.
Qtel is continuing to deploy advanced technology in an attempt to contain this nuisance.
The company said it has noted an increase in suspicious calls that appear to come from Sierra Leone (+232), Guinea (+224), Sao Tomé and Principe (+239), Austria (+43) and Latvia (+371) – all countries that have limited call traffic to Doha in normal circumstances.
Deploying the latest scanning technology, Qtel is blocking calls and SMSs from suspicious numbers when they are reported by customers. The company is also warning customers not to answer calls from numbers that they do not recognise, and not to send SMS to shortcodes to organisations that they do not know.
Qtel is using state-of-the-art technology to track and block these “Wangiri numbers,” which named after a phone fraud that started in Japan. There is concern that the fraudsters are using a computer to dial a large number of mobile phone numbers that are then recorded as missed calls, luring victims to call back. However, since the spammers keep changing and adding numbers, Qtel is asking customers to remain vigilant and to report nuisance calls.
It is also recommended that customers avoid giving phone information to companies unless they want to receive information from that company. Customers can report numbers to be blocked by calling the call centres at 111 any time of day, sending an email to customer.service@qtel.com.qa, or by eTicket on the Qtel website at www.qtel.qa. The Peninsula
