Con men abuse STC customer care line

When Ashraf (not his real name) received a call from 902 on his mobile phone recently, he answered thinking it might be related to some promotional offer by Saudi Telecom Company (STC). What followed turned out to be a scam that cost him SR 1,200 of his hard-earned cash.
When the caller said his number had been picked to win a cash prize of SR 200,000, Ashraf was overjoyed. The caller congratulated him and asked what he would do with the prize money.
Then the caller introduced him to a person who spoke in his mother tongue. This person also congratulated him, but then explained that to take possession of the cash prize, Ashraf had to pay a “processing fee” of SR 1,200.
When Ashraf started to get suspicious, the caller said the offer was genuine. To prove his credentials, he told Ashraf details of his STC account, the actual subscription or account number, name under which the subscription was registered, credit limit, address, frequently contacted numbers and Ashraf’s residence number in his country.
And finally, to put all doubts to rest, the caller asked him to open his mobile phone and match the long number on the SIM card with the digits he provided.
Ashraf even received an SMS from 902 with a temporary password and a message that stated: “Please do not disclose this password to anyone, not even to the representative of STC.” Ashraf felt more comfortable and thought he could trust the caller.
When the crook phoned again, he reminded Ashraf that he had to pay the fee or else he would not get the SR 200,000 cash prize. Ashraf was excited, and not wanting to lose out, asked the caller how he could pay the money. The caller said that he could do so by buying four SR 300 STC prepaid cards and send the pin numbers to him.
Ashraf called his friend from his landline to ask him to get the coupons. When he had sent the numbers, the caller then said that Ashraf had to pay a further SR 4,500 to get the money transferred to him in Dammam from Jeddah. When Ashraf said the caller could deduct this sum from the cash prize, the caller refused and insisted he get 15 coupons of SR 300 each.
At this point Ashraf realized that he had been conned and disconnected the line. He then rushed to the nearest STC office to explain what had happened. However, the customer relations manager on duty told him that it was a scam and that STC was aware of it.
After numerous requests, the manager agreed to block the mobile phones to which the pin numbers had been sent and provided details of the subscribers. However, the manager said that STC would not replace the money Ashraf had lost.
The scam has raised a number of questions in the minds of those who have lost money, including how the con men gained access to the number 902 and had personal information of victims.
In the past, STC has repeatedly reminded its customers to beware of unsolicited suspicious calls. It has reiterated that these are fraudulent calls and advised customers not to disclose any confidential information such as bank account details, PIN or eVoucher/rechargeable card numbers to unknown callers on the phone or through SMS or e-mail.