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I have received variations on this SMS message a dozen times since the beginning of this month of Ramadan. It says
Apjo koi ho plz mere is num 03xxxxxxxxx per15rps send kr do main hospital main musibt man hun plz tumko alah aur rasol k waste mera yakin kro plz10rps plz.
which translates roughly to:
Whoever you are, please send 15Rs. to this number of mine I am in the hospital in trouble please for god’s sake believe me please 10Rs. please.
SMS spam is nothing new, but this well-executed ‘campaign’ comes in a flavor exclusive to the land of green & white, and takes the cake.
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September 23rd, 2008 at 10:40 am
I had received this kind of sms earlier this year, and I blogged about this absurd idea: http://www.sawantshah.com/weird-stuff/the-weirdest-text-message-i-received/
September 23rd, 2008 at 11:30 am
Thanks for the link Sawant, my guess: this was started by some professional spammer(s) - the ones that let you send X bulk messages for Y Rs, with an under-utilized setup (unlimited outgoing SMS packages and all)
I was getting these messages every other month or so, but the frequency has spiked during this month of Ramadan - something must be working for them to get this active.
The ones on your blog from May are begging for 10Rs. while this one starts off with 15Rs. and comes down to 10Rs. so they are actually tweaking and improving their pitch too.
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Point is how do they get the whole big database of cell no.’s?
Are the cellular companies employees involved in leaking out the privacy information against some bucks?
September 23rd, 2008 at 11:44 pm
What i called them on my blog “Digital Beggers”, or lets term them New Era Beggers
September 24th, 2008 at 1:32 am
@Corona
I think there are more than one ways of obtaining such valid numbers, they can easily:
* use bruteforce (with automated free SMS, that is trivial)
* add intelligence to bruteforce by using BLOCKS of numbers (like IP blocks) that are being used by a particular operator
* steal the data from the telco (your guess)
* telco franchises have access to their databases as well.
* banks and insurance companies *lend* their customer databases for unsolicited telemarketing
September 24th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Hi Friends,
Recently i wrote an article ‘Google is biased’ on Propakistani.
Here is the link to my article:
http://www.propakistani.com/2008/09/17/google-is-biased/ .
In this article i raised the issue to have a Google Happy Eid Doodle for Muslims and Pakistanis.And asked Google to show it on Google Pakistan on the Eid day.
Happily i got a reply from Google Pakistan.They appreciated the proposal.According to some close sources we have made a buzz in Silicone Valley.Google is considering the Doodle for Muslims.
A fellow blogger Dr.Awab a.k.a Teeth Maestro also wrote a similar post.
Here is its link:
http://www.teeth.com.pk/blog/2008/09/23/google-doodle-muslims-pakistanis .He also pointed out the same issue.
But it’s not confirmed by Google that we will see the Doodle or not.So what we have to do is this that if you want to see Doodle this Eid and all coming Eid’s,write an article like mine’s urging and asking Google to make a Doodle for Eid.
If only we all bloggers of Pakistan work together can make this a reality.
So please visit my article,leave a comment and write one on your blog too.
But please don’t forget to link and ping back your article to my original article here as i deserve it:
http://www.propakistani.com/2008/09/17/google-is-biased/
So lets get working,make this a reality and gift this to our nation on this Eid.
Please forward this email and spread the word.
Thanks
Regards
Zeeshan Shafquat a.k.a Bites85
Islamabad,Pakistan
Contact:
E: bites85@gmail.com
M: +92-322-5168949
September 26th, 2008 at 1:50 am
Well, I’ve been receiving at least two more types of messages that dont ask for money, but try to steal it from you.
One of the SMS says ” is celebrating there th birthday and giving away free Rs. 100 balance to you. To get your free balance, send to .
This will actually the balance transfer code and if you do what this sms says, you may end up losing some of your balance. (= mobile network operator like Warid, Mobilink, Ufone etc)
Second variation of above is even more interesting. Usually you receive a business card of some imaginary Aisha. In this business card, the number mentioned is not a phone number but an interestingly malformed code that eventually transfers some funds from your number to another number.
This is for sure stealing. I wish our people spend their intelligence in some constructive work.
September 28th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
How come such people ask for money who are the silly people send them money..