Tag Archives | scam

No, You Can’t Lose Your Mobile Credits By Answering a Phone Call

By Rami on December 28, 2017 in Telecom

I’ve seen several Facebook posts and even received numerous voice notes on WhatsApp over the last few days warning people from answering phone calls from numbers starting with “+7” or “007”, because they can steal all your credits if you a have a prepaid line or overcharge you in case you’re on a postpaid plan, and even get hold of all the data stored on your phone…

Now I know a thing or two about GSM networks and let me tell you this, THE ABOVE IS ALL WRONG. There’s no way someone can steal your money or phone stored data by simply making you answer a phone call, it is probably possible in movies but this is not how “smartphone hacking” works in real life.

In order to transfer credits to another phone line you should input a special command on your phone or send an SMS I guess. On the other hand, the protocol you phone uses to make a phone call is meant to transport voice data only, so a calling party can never send your phone special commands to execute over a voice call, and is also never able to view or steal your phone data.

However, some people are indeed losing money and it’s because they are sometimes calling back these numbers when noticing a missed call. The reason is simply because these numbers are premium rate numbers so calling them may cost up to $20 or $30 in some countries (same applies for sending an SMS). As for data theft, it is only possible by tricking you into visiting some malicious link or installing a malicious app.

To protect yourself against such incidents just make sure to stick to the following:

Never call back a suspicious number.
Avoid installing apps from outside Google Play for Android or App Store for iOS.
Avoid clicking on links you receive by e-mail or messaging platforms from unknown senders.

So there you go… there’s absolutely no need to panic if you get a call from these numbers, just be careful what you do with your smartphone.

Al Joumhouria Publishes the Darndest Articles

By Rami on January 16, 2016 in What the fuck!

aljoumhouriyacc

A Lebanese lady who had her credit card information stolen and used to make several transactions reported the incident to some journalist in Al Joumhouria last week. And unfortunately for us, the latter decided to take matters in her own hands to investigate the issue and came up with some really messed up conclusions.

According to the journalist, it seems like TV receivers now pose a threat because they can get infected by a virus named “talk talk” through the satellite dishes, in addition to a new device that costs $200 to build and can steal a card information by simply placing it next to it… yeah a sane person holding a degree in journalism is actually convinced about that. Make sure to read the full article here.

I have no idea how on earth is a TV receiver supposed to steal some card information… but a simple Google search shows that “talk talk” is actually a telecom operator in the UK that had some of its customer data stolen a while ago, so there isn’t any virus by that name. Moreover the $200 device is impossible to build but there exists what is called a “skimming” instead which involves actually swiping the card.

Next thing you might read in Al Joumouria is most probably about a car-theft gang that is teleporting cars from Beirut to Brital!

Update: I definitely did not mean to endorse punishing journalists by the previous title. The idea is just that such articles cannot be justified at a time when information resources are very accessible and facts can be easily double checked.

Beware of the scammers on Lebanese classifieds websites

By Rami on August 18, 2014 in Lebanon

A friend of mine was looking to buy a used car through Lebanese classifieds websites like Al Waseet and Bey3. Among several cars he was interested in, two were selling for a very attractive price, so he eventually started messaging their owners until he learned that they live outside Lebanon and were asking for the whole money or a down payment to be transferred through Western Union!

These people were claiming to have bought their cars while they were working in Lebanon and now that they’re back to their home countries, the cars are now up for sale.

Needless to say, their stories sounded fishy especially that once you make a Western Union transfer you can never guarantee that you will get anything in return.

So be careful if you ever came across one of these ads that sound too good to be true. For example, the $6000 car that was being discussed in the second message was actually supposed to be a 1966 Ford Mustang.

Hello

I am a private seller and i am located in Preston, UK. I bought this car while I was working in Lebanon, now I`m back to UK and I want to sell it. The car it is registered in Lebanon. The car is in perfect condition and it has never been involved in an accident.The paint on this car is in excellent condition and it is original from front to back there is no collision damage present on this car. This car’s transmission shifts like it just left the factory. If you decide to buy my vehicle I can arrange the delivery to your country and a 5 days inspection period. I would like to inform you that we will use an International Shipping Company for insurance. In United Kingdom this shipping company is very popular and trust worthy.

Let me know if you agree and I will provide you all details regarding shipment and payment.

Waiting for your answer!

Best regards!

The last price for the car is 6000 USD!!
The car is now in a garage! If you agree with the price I could come to make the sale next days, but I need to be sure that you have the money for the car! I have already fly to Lebanon for not serious people like i said you and I really don’t want to do it again!

To prove me that you have the money please go to a Western Union and make a transfer of 6.000 to your wife, father or any person that you want and at the receiver country put Greece! After you make the transfer please send me the scanned paper and I will check if everything is real! You do not have to worry, nobody can take the money! I just want to check if you are real and have the money! I do not want to lose another money for planes and also leave from work for nothing!!

If is all ok I will buy a plane ticket and come to Lebanon, make the papers and the car is yours! When I arrive you take the money back from Western Union and give them cash to me! Or you can send the receiver on my name and I collect them from Greece when I return!

Please ask me if you have any misunderstandings!

Please e-mail me as soon as possible! If you want give me your address and I will find on internet a close Western Union office!

Make easy money

By Rami on December 21, 2012 in Lebanon

Le Gustav 2

Here’s a quick tip to make easy money. Get some of the delicious treats from Le Gustav, preferably their heavenly good cake balls, start selling them for more than double the original price at your shop and enjoy the profit!

Shu we2fit 3leik? Second Cup Hamra is doing the exact same thing and getting away with it! Check more about this scam here on Beirutista.

Always double check your receipt

By Rami on December 15, 2012 in Lebanon

I was at one of the large supermarkets in Beirut a while ago when I noticed they had an offer on one of KDD’s juice products, buy 6 for the price of 4. So I grabbed a pack and headed to one of the cashiers only to be surprised that they’re billing me 4,500L.L instead of the advertised 2,490L.L.

I decided to ask the customer service attendant for an explanation and it turned out the pack I picked didn’t have a promotional sticker on it, and they suggested that I just go get another pack with a sticker on, which was pretty stupid in my opinion since all the packs were placed on the same shelf!

Anyway, I’m not posting this to target a specific supermarket but rather to point out that you notice a difference between the shelf price and what you get billed almost everywhere and I’ve experienced it more than once, so you better double check your receipt next time you shop at one of those big supermarkets!

What we might be missing about the new 7 wonders

By Rami on October 28, 2011 in Lebanon

Everyone and their mother is now calling to vote for Jeita to make it among the new 7 wonders of the world, and even celebrities and politicians are getting involved in the voting campaigns.

But we might be missing something here. Let me assume we did manage to secure the needed votes and made a new wonder out of Jeita Grotto, will people around the globe be aware of the new list? And most importantly, will they find it credible enough coming from an organization who has been accused of running scam campaigns (you can just Google it), and having no affiliation with the UNESCO?

And again, assuming we won, the news will make it to the culture page of several international newspapers, but people are most probably going to perceive that article the same way they perceive any other travel and tourism article. And the most genuine list will forever remain the list of 7 wonders of the ancient world, at least to me!

And in case you didn’t know it, we’re currently competing to make it into the list of 7 wonders of nature. Another 7 wonders were elected back in 2007, were you aware of it? (Regardless of the popularity of the chosen places)

So what do you think? Are we overrating that competition?

Beware of the Power Balance MTV is trying to sell

By Rami on June 10, 2011 in Lebanon

I was watching MTV Lebanon last night and saw and advertisement by some female basket ball player for some silicone wristband called “Power Balance” claiming it improves balance and strength, all for $8!

A quick search on Google will be enough to let you know it is just another scam! Bravo MTV.

In our advertising we stated that Power Balance wristbands improved your strength, balance and flexibility.

We admit that there is no credible scientific evidence that supports our claims and therefore we engaged in misleading conduct in breach of s52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974.

If you feel you have been misled by our promotions, we wish to unreservedly apologise and offer a full refund.

Via Gizmodo

Noor Holding nothing but a scam

By Rami on June 5, 2011 in Lebanon

Remember the construction company that made a media buzz back in 2009 with the Cedar Island project it was promoting?

Call me naive, but this company, Noor Holding, had everything needed to let you think they’re doing legitimate business. A prestigious office in downtown Beirut, excessive advertising, claims about hundreds of household units being built, a good looking website, a “golden” phone number (01-999999), and a TV station. And at the end it turned out that the whole thing was nothing but a scam with the founder Mohammad Saleh (the man in the above photo) escaping with 5 million dollars! You can read everything about the issue in this article from Al-Akhbar.

I definitely don’t want to be in the shoes of those who have paid down payments for booking apartments with Noor Holding. These people will probably get nothing but news about Mr. Saleh moving from one country to another with their money…

Lebanese ripoff

By Rami on April 19, 2009 in What the fuck!

A few weeks ago I got this advertisement in my junk folder.

3anjad BRAVO! I believe it took them a lot of brainstorming to come up with the idea they’re promoting. “Advertising on your behalf on Facebook”, WOW.

These guys claim they can do what ANYONE else can do, that is using a credit card to post an ad for you on Facebook. As if we suffer of some disability that prevents us from posting an ad on Facebook on our own, and our brain cannot interpret the fields labeled “age”, “gender” and “internet” that help us target a certain segment of users of Facebook, w AKID the buttons intended to generate reports showing the perfomance of our ads go way behind our understanding. Ya3neh alf l7amdilla allah ba3at hal 3alam ynawwrouna.

If you have a product to promote, just don’t use these guys, chances are they’re gonna rip you off, use your credit card instead and benefit from the experience of the people on the internet that have usef Facebook ads before (use google to find them), I did it and it worked for me.

… That’s unless you are running for the Lebanese elections, then do make use of their service because they’re ready to make special promotions for you as you can see below (snapshot from Al-Waseet newspaper), not to mention that you definitely deserve a ripoff at least once in your life.