Batelco warns against fraudulent calls offering prize money

Manama : Batelco 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 different local and international mobile numbers and a number of Batelco customers have been in touch with the telecom company to enquire about the validity of the information. 

“A number of our customers have received calls with the callers claiming to be Batelco management, and advising our customers that they have won a cash prize. Furthermore, the callers are requesting personal information such as name, bank account details and CPR numbers to arrange payment of the money,” said Batelco Chief Marketing Officer Mike Stanford.

“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,” he stressed.

“Furthermore, Batelco has issued many previous warnings to customers regarding fraudulent calls, 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. We advise anyone who receives such calls to either ignore them or report the incident to our 196 Helpdesk,” added Mr Stanford.

Batelco always uses a professional process to contact its customers to inform them when they have won a prize and the customer would always be invited to Batelco’s Hamala Headquarters or a Batelco Retail Shop to collect any prize in person.