A message of caution… pass this on to your friends and loved ones….

@krupesh (2608)
India
March 22, 2010 2:53am CST
To all, just a reminder to all of us...please be cautious... A lady has changed her habit on the cellphone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag which contains her mobile, credit card, purse..etc....was stolen. 20min later when she called her hubby, telling him what happened. Husband says "I've just received your SMS asking about our Pin number. And I've replied a little while ago". When they rushed down to the bank, bank staff told them all the $ already withdrawn. The pickpocket actually used the stolen cellphone to sms "hubby" and got hold of the pin number. Within 20 mins, withdrew all the money from the bank account. So please remember try not to disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Avoid using name like Home, Honey, Hubby, sweetheart, Dad, Mum, etc...... and very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked thru SMS, CONFIRM by calling back.
9 people like this
48 responses
23 Mar 10
Thanks for that. I will check and see who I know silly enough to send a pin number in reply to a sms message and warn them
1 person likes this
@Gothicfb1 (141)
23 Mar 10
Smart one thief lol, you must know your partner how to communicate by texting for me if somebody texting using my partner cellphone, first texting font, size and period in the end of msg.. or the language using in texting ... nice advice krupesh,
1 person likes this
@zandi458 (28102)
• Malaysia
22 Mar 10
I have heard of this happening many times before. I never put something that might give the thief easy access to anyone close to me. Instead I use 'ICE'(incase of emergency) after the the first alphabet of names of my immediate families like 'W-ICE'. Anything happen to me anytime, someone can just dial the number with that initials.
1 person likes this
@advokatku (4033)
• Indonesia
22 Mar 10
one question ... how the thief can find the number husband phone selular of the owner's phone?
• India
22 Mar 10
Simple - contacts!
@ebuscat (5935)
• Philippines
23 Mar 10
Ok tanks many for the caution yes it's true many are the bad people around to create the thing's any so that they can get money for me I'm be aware of that don't worry time will come that bad people will killed by Jehovah God is hie time when the Armageddon hit in the this earth.
1 person likes this
@bounce58 (17387)
• Canada
23 Mar 10
What a very smart thief! If you really think about it, it's not hard to make the connections. I think the thief really used some brains to discover the connections, which has always been there. Thanks for the warning!
1 person likes this
@eshaan (6188)
• India
29 Mar 10
yes such cases are seen more and more with the advanced technology coming in...never give your online bank details also to anyone and try to avoid doing bank transaction at public computers...its nice that u have made people aware of this...
@tjades (3591)
• Jamaica
9 Apr 10
That is all some very important pointers and advice there. One man's woe iin another man's lesson and this is surely an important life lesson. I am sorry to know of the plight of that couple and hope they will somehow get some justice.
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
24 Mar 10
I really appreciate your advice. I’ll tell my husband that any questions like that about our accounts etc I would not ever text but phone him instead so he would know that if he was to receive an SMS asking for our PIN he would have to ignore it and phone me immediately and he would then know who had my phone I guess! I am sorry for the lady who had this happen to her. I guess her husband never imagined her cell would have been stolen, who would? It is a lesson learnt the hard way and your discussion will stop it happening to others. Thanks!
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
24 Mar 10
Wow..that's scary. People often use petnames and it would be very easy to make a mistake like that for some people. Great message!
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
22 Mar 10
Great advice, thanks for sharing that information with us all. It is amazing how brave thieves can be. This must be a common thing for them to do if they sent the SMS straight away.
• India
22 Mar 10
Brave is okay - but there lies a bit of smartness in the courage!
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
7 Oct 10
That is a very good point. One has to wonder what the deal was with the hubby that he would respond to that because his wife should know what the pin number was. That said, a friend of mine recently had a cell phone that was stolen only it was a smart phone and they had all of their information saved on a notepad within it. In the time that it took for the cell company to shut down the phone, the person had messed with her facebook and things like that. In addition to that she also had a photo of one of her credit cards on the phone as well. I've told her she should never do anything like that again.
@acer5540 (354)
• China
24 Mar 10
Thanks for your reminder. Yes,it is true,i heard of these things ever before around us.Some scammer steal one's mobile phone,and then send SMS to the owner's families or friends by the mobile phone,the main purpose is to have money,if people don't take care, maybe he will be deceived. So,the name in the address list should be as easy as possible. And don't disclose the relationship.
@kar295rocks (2116)
• India
22 Mar 10
Oh - the thief is a one real smartypants , but the hubby was so foolish to have replied to it instantly!! Also, if I were the hubby, I would have called first and not messaged to her mobile. Well, looks like they are having a bad time - well, I will tell my friends to be careful . BTW Good to see you back krupesh!
@ghieptc (2522)
• Philippines
24 Mar 10
Yes, it looks bad! Call back to confirm because it is a sensitive issue on giving a pin to a wrong person. We have to be careful. I wander how the thief knows the real husband phone because a lot of person on the contact list.It's a guess from a thief or maybe the thief knows all about the person's life.
@ladygator (3465)
• United States
23 Mar 10
Thank you for letting us know this. Its scary all of the stealing that goes on these days.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
24 Mar 10
this is really a good advise and a reminder to everybody. i just hope that everyone will be so sensitive to make the call if things like this happens. i really don't reveal important matters through text messages. thanks...
@indahfth (11161)
• Indonesia
24 Mar 10
thank you for your advice, your advice is very useful for me.
@scififan43 (2434)
• United States
23 Mar 10
This sounds like very good adice. one can not be too cautious these days. one sould be carful with there sournding while on a cell phone. some infornation should be kept sepearate.
@nangisha (3496)
• Indonesia
24 Mar 10
I my God, criminal this day become smarter and smarter. Now they not only steal your bag but also stolen your money from bank. Thats seem a good idea not to disclose relationship in cellphone to avoid this thing to happen to us. thank you for sharing this information.
@dhablue (122)
• Indonesia
24 Mar 10
I don't believe that if that accident take to me, I'm always put on it's urgent to my computers with special password and I didn't put on to my cellphone!