Anonymous calls from landline numbers in Pakistan are being made to phone users here. The person called is told he has won a lucky draw. But when he begins to press keys on his cell phone, the caller is able to access his SIM and can use the number to make calls and send SMSes. The calls are coming from a number starting with +92, which is Pakistan’s country code. Cyber crime expert Pavan Duggal said, ‘‘Since the calls are coming from across the border, is it possible the accessed numbers are being misused.” Kunal Verma of Gurgaon said he received such a call from +923055394596 on Monday. The man on the other side claimed he was calling from ‘‘the Bombay office of Verma’s service provider”. The caller asked him to call the number 00923037514592 and speak to one Prithvi Raj, and to work out the modalities of collecting his prize money. Verma got suspicious and disconnected. ‘‘I then enquired with my service provider. But they denied making any such call. They told me the call might have come from Pakistan,” Verma said. Three days ago, this reporter also received a similar call from the number +92347694722, with the caller offering a DTH unit as the prize. An executive with the service provider’s helpline said they had been receiving similar complaints and had issued a warning to all subscribers via SMS. ‘‘You are absolutely safe as long you do not give out any details or press any key during such a call. Simply disconnect,’’ the customer care executive said.
news appeared in times of India
