Messages are flying across the Internet warning users not to accept calls from the +96723345 because scammers, operating out of Peru and Pakistan, will be able to clone your SIM card, which would allow them to make phone calls at your expense.
However like many warnings attempting to convey the details of a specific scam, this tale is somewhat mixed up and more likely the result of a series of Chinese whispers about what was once a legitimate warning but is now one that has become diluted with urban legend and hearsay.
collected November 2014
One only need do an Internet search to determine that the number presented in the warning does appear to be a genuine “pest number” in that it places unsolicited calls to the public. The number appears in many “who called me?” type forums, especially during November 2014.
However on closer inspection it appears that most complaints are related to recorded and automated messages relating to the impeccably annoying PPI insurance, or simple hang ups that are also often associated with autodialling software (autodials call multiple numbers and play a message to the first that connects, whilst other numbers will often get cut off.)
The assertion in the warning that accepting the call will allow the scammer to “clone you SIM card” is fallacious. Modern phones and SIM cards have multiple security measures in place to prevent any serious detrimental activity taking place by simply accepting a phone call, since this would present a serious security risk. Cloning a SIM card is no easy feat, and the likelihood that a scammer has worked out a way to do it simply by luring you into accepting a call is virtually none.
In current times the most serious threat to mobile phones is in the form of malicious apps and software that can infect your phone from the Internet, much similar to how your PC or laptop would become infected.
Logic would also suggest that if scammers had worked out a way to bypass such security measures and could clone a SIM card in this manner then presumably they would be able to perform the same scam using any phone, not just the one associated with the aforementioned phone number.
It seems likely that this is just another spam call from yet another spammy company attempting to sell under-par services to those naïve enough to stay on the phone to an unsolicited call. Whilst these numbers are annoying to say the least, the warning above is inaccurate.
Readers should, however, always be aware of the popular scams that can be initiated by unsolicited calls, such as the “one-ring-hang-up scam” that involves a scammer calling a victim but hanging up after one ring. If the victim is lured into calling the number back then they can potentially face international rate charges for the call.
And it goes without saying that you should always be extremely sceptical of any company trying to sell their services to you via unsolicited calls.
