By: Staff Reporter, SKNVibes.comBASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE latest online scam has hit the Federation as unsuspecting persons have been circulating messages purportedly from mobile giant Samsung, indicating that locals were part of the company’s promotion and would have won US$800,000. Scammers have been using numbers from the United States with area code 234 to message persons in St. Kitts and Nevis; for example: 234-810-804-9966, 234-810-281-8725, 234-904-898-1499, 234-909-678-4532. In the promotion, dubbed Samsung 2021 Online Grand Promotion, the scammers would message individuals in the Federation indicaing that their numbers were randomly selected as part of the promotion, with them winning US$800,000, a new vehicle and a Samsung Galaxy S21. “This is real and 100% legitimate this is fine done to eradicate poverty in St kitts and nevis by the United Nations un the Samsung company and the USA trust fund organization. “With the aim to help people who are affected by the COVID pandemic and lifted out from their various jobs so a system called the CTSS file programme generates random St kitts and nevis numbers,” one of the scam messages obtained by SKNVibes reads. The scammers would then ask those unsuspecting persons how they would like to receive their winnings – the money that is. And as people continue to communicate with the scammers, they (scammers) would send a form and ask for them to respond with their personal details. Then two options are given: home delivery or Bank delivery; all of which would incur “not more than EC$700”. This scam is believed to have started in the United Kingdom and had made its way to Bermuda in 2020. Last year, the Royal Gazette in Bermuda reported a similar occurrence where a male received a message via Facebook highlighting that he had won $800,000 from Samsung’s promotion. He also received whatsapp messages indicating that he won and should provide his swift and bank account numbers so that the funds could be transferred.
But the scheme was recognised for what it was after a $500 request was made for the entire transaction. “When they told me they needed the VAT fee for the bank, I said ‘yes, it’s a scam’,” the Royal Gazette quoted the male as saying. Samsung, in a statement on its website, said it received “several reports of recent scams involving UK consumers. These fraudulent correspondences often carry Samsung’s name and logo and appear to be authorised communications from Samsung. “In light of these incidents, Samsung would like to encourage customers to exercise particular vigilance when interacting with third parties over email, internet, phone or text message,” the statement added. Samsung also noted: “Fraudulent third parties representing themselves as Samsung may attempt to gain your personal or financial information or exploit you for financial gain.” |
https://www.sknvibes.com/edisplay/abmw.aspx?z=269&tez=4832648&teuz=5479452&isframe=true
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