MTN Ghana engaged in fraudulent practices? Shortcode 1818
MTN Ghana seems to have reactivated its ‘fraudulent’ practices on me. What I call broad daylight white-collar pick-pocketing. The last time they ‘brute-forcefully’ signed me unto their short-code 451. This time the ‘culprit’ short-code is 1818.
I picked up my phone, unlock the keypad lock and I’m greeted with the ‘text’ message below.
It seems to be a grand ‘pick-pocketing’ scheme to get their customers to unwittingly subscribe to useless so-called ‘value-added services’. More like “lemme see if I can trick 2 million subscribers to inadvertently sign up for ‘junk’ information from my shortcode 1818,,, I will make it nearly impossible for them to unsubscribe… because the ‘text’ message (USSD) to which they clicked ‘OK’, most-likely without reading… will be nowhere in their SMS inboxes… ha ha ha. This SMS spam we’ve been bombarding subscribers with is so lucrative….. siphoning 20 pesewas everyday from say 2 million subscribers… I’m laughing all the way to the bank… I just can’t have enough of their money…. I’ll siphon more and more… any way I can…. ha ha ha ha ha”
Is it their policy or way of doing business? Here is a similar story to buttress my point, experienced by another MTN subscriber: https://www.newsghana.com.gh/letter-zezemuze-6/
I picked up my phone, unlock the keypad lock and I’m greeted with the ‘text’ message below.
It seems to be a grand ‘pick-pocketing’ scheme to get their customers to unwittingly subscribe to useless so-called ‘value-added services’. More like “lemme see if I can trick 2 million subscribers to inadvertently sign up for ‘junk’ information from my shortcode 1818,,, I will make it nearly impossible for them to unsubscribe… because the ‘text’ message (USSD) to which they clicked ‘OK’, most-likely without reading… will be nowhere in their SMS inboxes… ha ha ha. This SMS spam we’ve been bombarding subscribers with is so lucrative….. siphoning 20 pesewas everyday from say 2 million subscribers… I’m laughing all the way to the bank… I just can’t have enough of their money…. I’ll siphon more and more… any way I can…. ha ha ha ha ha”
Is it their policy or way of doing business? Here is a similar story to buttress my point, experienced by another MTN subscriber: https://www.newsghana.com.gh/letter-zezemuze-6/
"The regulations require that customers should subscribe to such services before they are made to receive them, but some of the telcos and their partners defy the rules, and send UECs to customers and charge those customers without their consent." Read the full article.
"... but the telcos themselves directly operate some short codes through which they also abuse their (sic) rights of customers." Full article here.
“The whole issue about SPAM or sending unwanted messages to subscribers and charging them is for us to make revenue and pay the telcos their whopping 70% so that we can also make some money to meet our overheads” Full article.You might also be interested in this somewhat related story on MyJoyOnline.com titled "MTN Mobile Money fraud – An inside job?"
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