SCAMMERS posing as employees of Bahrain’s telecom watchdog have allegedly been trying to steal people’s personal data.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said yesterday conmen are reportedly calling mobile phone subscribers asking them for their personal information.
The GDN last month quoted TRA as saying that it did not give out cash prizes or use WhatsApp as an official means of communication.
“The TRA advises all consumers to refrain from engaging with these scammers and report all suspicious communication immediately to the Interior Ministry’s General Directorate for Anti-Corruption, Economic and Electronic Security,” said a TRA statement.
“The TRA also advises consumers to verify any information, promotional offers and advertisements received either through phone or text messages from unknown sources.”
People should also report such incidents to their telecom service provider, opt out of receiving such communication and block those numbers to limit further communication.
Bahrain-based expert Robert Ward told the GDN that people should only give out their personal information if they are absolutely sure the person is an official representative.
Earlier this year, Bahrain Duty Free issued a public notice about fraudulent calls and messages being received by customers claiming they had won a “substantial prize”.
In February, the Interior Ministry advised people to ignore hoax phone calls, text messages and e-mails informing them they had won a lottery.
The GDN reported in the same month that Interpol had been brought in to track down conmen in China, India and Pakistan who are allegedly targeting Bahrain with mobile phone scams.
In addition, a gang of Syrian refugees in Jordan went on trial in connection with a racket targeting phone customers in Bahrain.
The Interior Ministry has urged fraud victims to report the scams on its hotline number 992.
Last year Bahrain was at the centre of an investigation into two alleged frauds, in which around $120 million is said to have been stolen from victims worldwide.
International financial crime investigator Mark van Leewarden is representing 23 clients from as far away as Australia and New Zealand.
Of those, 22 claim they were duped into handing over large advance down payments on loans that never materialised.
A Bahraini business owner was among several people tricked into investing money in UK start-up companies only to be told later that the ventures had declared bankruptcy.
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