Batelco, the leading telecom services provider in Bahrain, has issued a warning to its customers to be on the alert regarding a spate of fraudulent calls informing customers that they have won a large sum of money.

The calls are being generated from a variety of Bahrain mobile numbers. A small number of Batelco’s customers have been in touch with the company to enquire about the validity of the information.

“A number of Batelco’s customers have received calls or missed calls. The callers are using Batelco’s name and advising our customers that they have won a cash prize and also request personal information such as name, bank account details and CPR numbers to arrange payment of the money,” said Ahmed Al Janahi, Batelco’s Group general manager media relations.

“We strongly advise our customers that these are fraudulent calls. Batelco will never ask for bank account details, passwords or any personal details of this nature.”

Batelco issued several similar warnings last year alerting its customers to hoax calls offering large cash prizes.

“Furthermore, Batelco has issued many previous warnings to customers regarding fraudulent text messages and emails. Typically these messages ask for information about customers’ user names and passwords but these recent messages try to attract people by the promise of a big cash prize,” Al Janahi said.

“Customers should be aware that such calls announcing that they have won money are fraudulent. We advise anyone who receives such calls to either ignore them or report the incident to our 196 Helpdesk,” added Al Janahi. – TradeArabia News Service