KARACHI, July 20: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has cautioned mobile phone users against hoax calls and falsified/unsolicited SMS senders alluring them to scratch card schemes offering cash prizes.

A PTA spokesman observed that some unscrupulous elements were offering cash prizes to a calling party or SMS sender under the scratch card scheme.

In some instances, mobile phone users were deprived of their prepaid balance by replying to a particular SMS.

The SMS contains a hidden message which transfers the prepaid balance from the customer’s account to the desired account on reply.—PPI