Cellphone fraud still rife, despite RICA

RICA is not designed to prevent mobile consumers from becoming victims of cellular scams and common sense remains consumers' best defence. WASPA has noted that many users of mobile content and services believe that the new Act safeguards them in some way against mobile spam and mobile 419-type scams, which is not the case.

He adds that many of the scams which originated in email communications readily transfer to mobile phones. "Watch out for unlikely sounding messages that announce that you've won a lottery or competition that you didn't enter. Many will claim to be from legitimate companies; check with these companies if they have such promotions, either by contacting them directly or by researching on the Internet."

Watch for advance-fee frauds, which claim to be moving large sums of money which require your 'assistance'. Be wary of replying to messages that offer easy money or seem designed to draw you into pyramid schemes and other dodgy deals. The golden rule is still if it seems too good to be true, then it is probably too good to be true.

"Cyber crimes, which have translated into mobile phone scams, are very difficult to solve or prosecute. That means a greater responsibility on the part of every consumer - you have to be your first and best line of defence, as prevention is possible while cure is not."

As a further rule of thumb, avoid replying to any commercial messages that do not originate from a WASPA member. "Those from our members will include prominent opt-out or unsubscribe details as well as the contact number for the member. As with unsolicited email from unfamiliar senders, cellphone users need to treat SMS and MMS messages from unfamiliar sources with suspicion," he concludes.