Hoax callers crawl like pests on telephone networks and you need to be on the guard all the time to avoid embarrassment…
Post News Network
Prank calls may be annoying, but harmless. Well, this may not always be so. Nowadays, it has become common for women to get hoax calls. Jacintha Saldanha, a nurse who worked at King Edward VII’s Hospital in London, was found dead – apparently a case of suicide, three days after receiving a prank phone call as part of a radio stunt. The caller was from the Australian radio programme Hot 30 Countdown broadcast on Southern Cross Austereo-owned station 2Day FM in Sydney impersonating as the the Queen and the Prince of Wales enquiring about the health of the Duchess of Cambridge, who was a patient there at that time. The incident, however, failed to make any impact on pranksters. It seems a large number of women complain of getting prank calls almost every day but nothing is done to track the mischief-mongers. Is there a solution? Orissa POST takes the debate to women.
“There are numerous examples of rich and powerful people being hoaxed and even people like Tony Blair were not spared. In 1998 Blair took a call from a man claiming to be William Hague, leader of the Opposition. He immediately realised it was a hoax but took it in good humour,” says Anwesa Mishra. “I often get such calls, but never entertain pranksters. It is really difficult to judge whether the caller is genuine one or fake because they talk so fluently in English. But the receiver should not divulge personal information. One should linger conversation to ascertain whether the caller is genuine or not. I often get calls where the callers identify themselves as bank employees. ‘Hi, I am from this nationalised bank’ or ‘you have won `1 lakh through a lucky draw. So can I have your name and banking details so that we can transfer the amount?’ I simply reply that if caller is from the bank he would be knowing my name and banking details. This puts the conversation to an end,” she quips.
According to Jyoti Das from Bhadrak prank calls are common new but people should act smartly and be careful while taking to fake callers. “Recently, my sister got a call from an unknown person who identified himself as an employee of Axis bank. He asked my sister for her four-digit ATM number to, supposedly, raise the credit limit. My sister, who is stupid, gave the four-digit number instantly without batting an eyelid. Soon after she realised she had been duped. She rang the Axis bank toll free number where she was informed that no bank officials would ask for her number. As per the request of my sister, the officer in-charge blocked the credit card and advised her to issue another card. Thank god, she was saved,” she says.
Gayatri Dash, a school teacher from Bhubaneswar, says, “Some days back I received a call seeking my bank details to deposit `10,000. When I enquired, he told me I was selected as best customer for using Reliance service for years. I simply hung up and did not engage in further conversation. Typical prank callers seek attention. You make their day if you say something or express excitement.”
