The Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association (Waspa) has warned mobile consumers to be on the look-out for scams that use the names of its members to deceive victims into parting with their money.

The association says there are a number of scams making use of other mediums, besides mobile technology, to defraud cellular users by promising them opportunities to claim money they have allegedly won or by offering them giveaways.

Though many of the scammers operate by SMS, a worrying trend is that many are starting to use e-mail or even the postal service to try and trick their victims into depositing money into their accounts.

One of the latest examples of such scams sees the scammers fraudulently pose as Zed Mobile, a credible mobile content provider and a member of Waspa. The scammers have delivered their scam message to a number of people by post, e-mail and fax.

The targets are asked to deposit cash, amounting to several thousand rand, into a bank account to cover courier costs and insurance and to facilitate the payment of their so-called “lottery winnings”. Zed Mobile’s attention was brought to the scam by members of the public phoning in to find out more about their prizes after looking up its number with directory services.

“We urge members of the public to be vigilant about these scams, which are in nature similar to 419 email stings,” says Waspa chairman Leon Perlman. “Do your homework whenever anyone asks you to pay in an amount to claim a prize. In most cases, you will find that the prize does not exist.” — Staff reporter, TechCentral