Be aware of cell phone scam

I received a call from someone claiming that he was from my mobile service provider who asked me to shut down my phone for two hours for a 3G update to take place.

As I was rushing for a meeting, I did not question it but shut down my cell phone.

After 45 minutes I began feeling very suspicious since the caller did not even introduce himself and I quickly turned on my cell phone and saw several missed calls from family members and others from the number that had called me earlier. I called my parents and was shocked that they sounded very worried, asking me whether I was safe.

My parents told me that they had received a call from someone claiming that they had me with them, asking for money to let me free.

The call was so real, my parents even heard me crying out, asking for help.

My father was at the bank waiting for the next call to proceed with a money transfer.

I told my parents that I was safe and asked them to lodge a police report.

Right after that I received another call from the man asking me to shut down my cell phone for another hour which I refused to do and I hung up.

They kept calling my cell phone until the battery had run down.

I lodged a police report and was informed by the officer that there were many such scams.

Most of the cases reported that the victim had already transferred the money and it is impossible to get the money back.

People must be careful as this kind of scam might happen to anyone.

These guys are very professional and very convincing during calls.

Concerned resident.