BISP SMS Scam victims await justice

BISP SMS Scam victims await justice
By Qadeer Hussain
ISLAMABAD

SMS scams are on the rise across Pakistan. Fraudsters exploit gaps in digital security and public awareness and have successfully robbed countless innocent citizens of their savings in the recent past. Scammers generally play around one’s financial needs, and only after being trapped, victims realized they have been deprived of their valuable money.
Title of Benazir Bhutto Income Support Program is being consistently used in these scams as innocent citizens, already battling financial hardships, think that government officials are approaching them for some help which they desperately need anyways.

Recently, SMS scammers targeted a poor lady hailing from a remote village in Tehsil Hari Ghal, District Bagh, Azad Jammu and Kashmir. SB (initials) lives in a small house with her teenage daughter and her brother. She has no reliable source of income.

SB (45), received an SMS stating she had been chosen for a cash reward of Rs700,000 by the BISP. She was asked to contact a person whose name was provided in the SMS.
Ignorant of the fraudulent tactics, she promptly called the given cellular number.

The recipient introduced himself as Haji Abdul Ghafoor, impersonating himself as director at the BISP. His tone was convincing, telling her that the government had allocated Rs700,000 for her well-being and planned to give her a monthly honorarium of Rs25,000. SB thought things were finally turning in her favour.

Haji Ghafoor informed her that a tax of Rs225,000 on the Rs700,000 reward had to be paid before claiming the cash. He assured her that she could pay it in installments. SB approached her relatives for the money, but no one could support her. She sold her only valuable property, her cow, for Rs200,000 and started paying the “tax” via Easypaisa transfers to Haji Ghafoor’s account.

She repeatedly inquired when she would receive the cash reward, and he told her it would be paid only after the full tax was paid. She transferred all the required money but realized it was a trap when no amount was awarded to her as was promised. Later, she engaged local journalists, who helped her retrieve half of the amount from the impostor.
SB said she had no knowledge of digital frauds and does not want to be involved in such cases in the future. “I am lucky that after several months of hardship I could finally recover half of the amount. Initially, I thought I had lost everything, but I am fortunate and do not want to proceed further,” she said.

Six months earlier, Saira Bano (fictitious name) received a WhatsApp message claiming she had won an iPhone from a Dubai-based business group. The message included a video with showbiz personalities. She was asked to claim the gift immediately or it would be awarded to someone else.

Initially reluctant, she was convinced by the video and replied with her home address for delivery of gifted iPhone. Two days later, she was told the iPhone had been dispatched to Karachi, but Rs250,000 tax had to be paid to claim it. Saira realized it was a scam and refused to pay.

Shehryar Khan, an Islamabad-based journalist, recently received a call from an unknown number claiming he had a parcel at the post office containing government-related documents. The caller asked whether to deliver it to his home or another address.

The recipient told the caller that the parcel could be delivered to his home address. The caller then asked how he would like to receive the postal code — via WhatsApp or SMS. Shehryar told him to send it on WhatsApp. Later, the caller asked Shehryar to provide him with the code that had supposedly been forwarded to him.

Aware of the scam, Shehryar laughed and told the caller to try his luck somewhere else.

Shehryar noted that many SMS and WhatsApp scams occur across the country, and most go unpunished. “I am not aware of any SMS or WhatsApp scam cases that were properly prosecuted. There are forums to check, but their performance is questionable,” he said.
He added that the complicated reporting process discourages victims from seeking help.

Attempts to contact officials at the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) for comments were unsuccessful.