Mobile phone hoaxes at all-times high

Short messages promising prizes in the name of major companies are a more and more frequent hoax on the Romanian mobile telephony market. All one has to do to claim the prize is to buy a pre-paid card and communicate the recharge code to a cell number. And, of course, lose one’s money to a prankster who doesn’t have recharge money himself.

Promised prizes include last generation phones, cash up to 500 euros and white goods. Metro Cash &Carry Romania, LG Romania and retail chain Altex are just a few of over a dozen companies which saw their names involved in this kind of frauds.

Update: Car producer Dacia, designer of the internationally acclaimed Logan model, warns that cell phone hoaxes begun to use the company’s name. Dacia is a brand currently owned by Renault and it is not involved in such marketing schemes.

The so-called Dacia employee offers personal information that seem true – name and surname – Alexandru Popovici, personal code (Romania’s equal to the social security number) – 1720307500013; ID series and number AG 001307, phone number 0767.195.177.