Thim Bender

Jakarta,Indonesia- The country has a lot of telecommunication networks scattered allover the archipelago. One of the most leading telekomis XL Axiata in Jakarta, a subsidiary of Axis Capital Group. Despite ourfight for a fair and healthy competition among us, scammers and fraudulent actsare still prevalent from individuals.

Many wouldagree that technology has now dominated our world. Cell phones have changed our lives, but sohave cell phone scams.

In somecases, further technological advances have made it tougher for certain cellphone scams to work, but elsewhere the crooks are having a field day. Thisclever technology that keeps us constantly in touch with friends, relatives andeven the Internet may be a boon, but it has also opened up more of the airwavesto crooks and snoopers.

1. Subscriber Fraud

Subscriberfraud is simply an offshoot of identity theft. It is far and away the biggestcell phone scam. This happens when someone steals your personal details andopens a cell phone account in your name, racking up huge bills that may land inyour mailbox.

2. Stolen or lost phones

Who has notlost his phone among us? In the wrong hands they can be used to makeunauthorized calls. Alternatively, they can be mined for any personal andcontact details stored on them. In other words, loss of your phone can be justa prelude for costly identity theft.

3. Cloning

Crooks mayuse scanners to read your cell phone identity, including the number and its uniqueserial number. Then they program another phone with the same details and makecalls at your expense.

4. Eavesdropping

Cell phonescam merchants may find it more difficult to scan for your phone ID but theycan do potentially much more dangerous things — like listening in to your callsand downloading your phone usage records. They can even track your phone toknow where you are or where you have been at a particular time.

6. Bogus text messages

There arenumerous variations of this cell phone scam but the bottom line is that youreceive an unsolicited text message (which you may have to pay for) whichprompts you take some sort of action you’ll later regret.

Most commonis what seems to be a message from your bank (this may also arrive as an automatedvoicemail) saying your account has been suspended and asking you to call a1-800 number where your account number, PIN and other details may be requested.In reality, you