I am so angry at this scam, more so because I almost fell victim for this trap, I received an SMS yesterday from 2782004842237929 at 18:20, the sms read, "Your 4800 points will expire tomorrow! Redeem them now at http://ems.cx/w/?m=xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.vodacom.co.za/ So after reading the attached link from Vodacom you would realise that to achieve 4800 talking points, you would have spent R48 000-00 of airtime which in my case is improbable because of the top up plan I am on. Clicking on the link http://ems.cx/w/?m=xxxxxxxxxxx
Mobmatic has requested
that your mobile number be made available. Clicking on 'redeem now' you're declaring you're 16+ and accepting terms and conditions. Mobmatic is an entertainment subscription service for just R7/day. We reserve the right to send you free promotional SMS relating to this and other services operated by Sprint Media S.L Support@mobmatic.com or call 0861106472. When you click on the "REDEEM NOW " link, it forwards you "System Administrator, WAP Push message" which I believe activates and confirms your subscription with Mobmatic thereby giving them full authority to debit your airtime everyday for a service that you will never use because you do not know you are subscribing to it. www.mobmatic.com is a company in Spain and from what I have read on their site they offer various incentives based on accumulation of reward points. This type of marketing of a service is coercing people into subscribing to a service that they are not aware of which I am almost certain is Illegal, Are Vodacom aware of and endorses this service which leverages the sale of their service on the strength of Vodacoms reward system. I think there needs be more discretion with consumer information, this is something out of our control, sites like these
sell consumer databases to marketing companies, this is how your personal information is passed along to those pesky companies that want to to sell you cellphone contracts all the time. So it doesn't matter how careful you with where and to whom you divulge your personal information to.
Cellphone companies should be held responsible when people fall prey to these scams, as there should be an authoritative standard that governs companies that markets good and services using consumer databases, consumer databases should only exist for the use of the company from where it was sourced as a means of communication between the service provider and the client. Mobile users do not have spam filters on sms's, one only has the option of clicking unsubscribe or opt out which most people don't do and in most cases when you receive this message chances are you are already subscribing to that service. At R7 per day it works out to R210-00 per month (The cost of a DSTV package). Be very careful when responding to sms's and always verify with your service provider the authenticity of any messages received from them, you will prevent a lot of headache and save a lot of cash in the process. |
Vodacom Talking Points Scam
Consumer
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http://ems.cx/w/?m=xxxxxxxxxxx
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mobmatic.com
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sms scams
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spam
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Vodacom Talking points
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