People are being urged not to share confidential details such as their mobile money wallet information this is after the Consumer Council of Fiji received reports of unauthorized withdrawals from people’s mobile wallet by scammers.
The Council says scammers have been able to convince consumers to share their ‘One Time Password’ through certain gimmicks such as winning a lottery.
Council CEO Seema Shandil says one registered case with the Council is that a woman received a call from an alleged scammer claiming she has won a lottery and was required to provide her e-wallet details for the transfer of the winning cash prize.
She says, while on the on-call with the scammer, the woman was told that she will soon receive a text message on her mobile and one-time- password which she was required to provide to the caller for the transfer of the winnings to which she complied.
Shandil says soon after this, $100 was transferred from her account and withdrawn.
The CEO adds that consumers must exercise their due diligence and understand that they cannot win a lottery in which they never participated and this should be the first red flag.
She says what people should know is that nobody from a lottery company, private company or other entities will never tell people to pay them to claim a prize.
Shandil says if this happens to someone it is a scam.
She is urging consumers never to share their account numbers, passwords or other personal financial details with anyone.
If you come across similar scams, please report the matter to the Council on toll-free number 155 or lodge a complaint using the Consumer Council of Fiji mobile app or the Consumer Council of Fiji website.
