SOUTH AFRICA - BILLIONS OF RANDS OF AIRTIME REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN STOLEN FROM UNSUSPECTING MOBILE SUBSCRIBERS

Could you be one of the millions of people in South Africa whose airtime has been stolen by fraudsters?

MyBroadband has published a worrying report, claiming that billions of rand in airtime had been stolen from mobile subscribers and, worse still, there was nothing they could do to stop it.

According to the report, airtime was stolen by rogue wireless application service providers (Wasps), who bill cellular subscribers’ accounts without their permission.

"Wasps are those providers who try to get you to subscribe to a service that charges you R5 a day, R10 a day, whatever it is, for something - wallpaper for your phone, ringtones," said MyBroadband senior journalist Jan Vermeulen.

Vermeulen said in some cases the services being paid for were never even delivered.

So how do these Wasps get our details?

"That's a shady business altogether. There organisations all over South Africa that collect our details and sell them," Vermeulen said.

Moreover, it's not possible for subscribers to block these Wasps from billing their accounts.

via - EWN