I RECENTLY received a phone call from an unknown number. The person on the other end of the line pretended to be a sophisticated and educated young man. Speaking in a thoroughly professional manner, this person introduced himself as a banker associated with XYZ. He said that the bank wanted my ATM details in order to save my account which would otherwise get blocked as per a decision of the Supreme Court.

Unfortunately for this person, as a student of the law, I am well aware of court decisions and also read newspapers daily. It took me 10 seconds to figure out that this was a scam.

I proceeded to ask the man a few technical questions after which he hung up on me. I have emailed details of this call and the number to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority but have received no response as yet.

I request the authorities concerned that instead of mass texting public service announcements of not sharing scandalous content, they should focus on taking action against these scam artists.

It should be fairly easy now that every SIM card has been verified and we also have a cybercrime cell.

J. A. Satti
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2019