By Qadeer Hussain
SMS scams are on the rise across Pakistan, leaving countless innocent citizens robbed of their savings as fraudsters exploit gaps in digital security and public awareness. It has been observed that the fraudulent elements generally exploit one’s financial needs, and after being trapped, victims realise they have been deprived of their valuable money.
Recently, SMS scammers deprived a poor woman of her subsistence valuables in the name of cash rewards on behalf of the Benazir Bhutto Income Support Programme (BISP), leaving her wandering from one place to another to retrieve her deposited amount.
SB (initials), a 45-year-old woman, 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 to claim the amount. SB had little knowledge of how BISP works and the eligibility criteria for its funding. She desperately needed the money to care for her young daughter and ailing mother.
SB is a resident of a remote village in Tehsil Hari Ghal, District Bagh, Azad Jammu and Kashmir. She lives in a small house with her teenage daughter and her brother. She has no reliable source of income, and her only valuable asset was a cow, which provided her subsistence. Rs700,000 was a huge sum for her, so she promptly called the given cellular number.
The recipient introduced himself as Haji Abdul Ghafoor, claiming to be a 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 realised 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 (not her real 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 realised 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. When Shehryar insisted on WhatsApp delivery, the caller asked for a postal code. Shehryar, aware of the scam, laughed and asked the caller to change the process.
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 comment were unsuccessful.
