A new wave of crime that involves conmen tricking unsuspecting Ugandans tobelieve they've landed lucrative deals and prize-related ventures is now widespread and has left many victims cursing.

But as the vice spreads from city centres to villages, one notices a conspicuous absence of telecom operators as well as the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) in proactive measures to try to alert the public [about the vice] or bring the culprits to book.

Kampala Region Police spokesperson Ibin Ssenkumbi, told The Sunrise that currently cases involving people who have been fleeced of their money ranging from tens of thousands to millions of shilling are numerous.

According to Ssenkumbi, one of the commonest cases involves conmen who claim they work with the telecom companies and go on to tell phone users that they have won prizes but they need to buy airtime to facilitate processing the prizes.

Other common tricks, Ssenkumbi notes, involve conmen who can link you to suppliers and buyers of 'rare' spare parts needed by machines that are engaged in the oil production process in Western Uganda.

It is not clear how the thieves get the phone owner's identity but as per the many cases The Sunrise has come across, conmen usually have some information on their targets, including calling them by their names or telling them about their high school days.

It is upon this that many of the victims are usually led into believing that perhaps they are dealing with a genuine person only to find later, perhaps rather too late, that they've been led into a trap.

Indeed while many of the would-be victims are able to notice the trick,  many a Ugandan have been out-smarted. Ssenkumbi says that most of the victims are naïve people who think they are either too smart to be cheated or too lucky to be getting the deals.

"No body can tell you that you have won millions of money in a promotion you didn't participate in. People want to think they are too sharp or lucky to have won millions in a promotion in which they didn't participate and they end up being outsmarted," said Ssenkumbi.

This writer is one of the many Ugandans who have received such calls from conmen, as the following exchange reveals.
Before he could reveal the reasons for his call, someone who identified himself as John Mutebi, an alleged employee of Uganda Telecom Limited, called this writer by name and went on to exchange [with him] pleasantries; "How are you Peter? How do you find our network these days?" He started.

The conman coyly said that the company for which he 'works' was engaged in a give-back-to-the community promotion in which some of their most loyal customers stood to win bountiful gifts including Bajaj Motorcycles, Colored TV sets, bicycles and hard cash.

Without losing time and coherence thus far, the caller further stated: "I am happy to inform you that you have just won yourself  3 Bajaj motorcycles, 2 bicycles, a TV set, and Ushs 500,000," the caller went on to say that this was simply a mere token of appreciation for using the “Endobo Promotion.”

Elated and deeply grateful for UTL's generosity, the writer quickly asked where he could collect the prizes with uncompromising immediacy.
The conman then said that all that remained was for this writer to get his prizes was to 'just buy airtime worth Ushs  50,000 and read the first and last four digits.

But thanks to the chat this writer had just had in office with workmates who had been contacted by similar callers who later turned out to be thieves.

Spokespersons of the telecom companies whose reputation appears to be getting tarnished admitted this kind of crime is on the rise.

But given the wide range of communication avenues available to them as well as resources to mount a mass awareness campaign to alert the public, this kind of crime appears to be growing without visible actions being taken by the relevant bodies such as telecom operators or the industry regulator UCC.

Police's Ibin Ssenkumbi expressed similar concern that the telecom companies have not been forthright and fast enough in tackling the crime.
Ssenkumbi said: "I think the telecom companies should be at the centre of this struggle. Unfortunately, they have become too commercial and have not been protecting their clients. Some of those things can be detected.

Fred Masadde, the spokesperson of Zain Uganda admitted awareness of the new tide and expressed concern about the escalation of phone crime.
"We have realized that this is an industry-wide problem and we are trying to engage the rest of the players [in the industry] together with the police in order to find a lasting solution to the problem," Masadde said.

But critics argue that telecom companies are too silent since it would take only an SMS or an announcement to alert the public. This is especially because, as The Sunrise has found out, this type of crime has been on for  long.

On his part, James Wire Lunghabo, an ICT services consumer advocate was courteous enough to give the following comments in an effort to warn the unsuspecting general public about the rising vice.

1. People need to be educated about phone usage and potential vices that can accrue through their usage. This will at least reduce on the 'obvious' cons.
2. People need to be made aware that crime is practically the same save for the different tools being used. i.e The crimes people have been used to in the past are the same as the ones being perpetrated today, making it necessary not to drop their guard. "Most people easily trust you when you talk to them convincingly on phone. Why??? Therein lies the problem," Wire notes.

3. Phone number registration, as proposed in the bill currently still before  Parliament, should be carried out as quickly as possible so that it becomes easier to track down such thugs,a development that would also make it riskier for people who want to engage in phone crime.

4. Need for a change of attitudes. "Why should you be made to believe that you won a raffle that you never participated in, in the first case? Why should you be so greedy for a quick buck as to believe that a one James that has called you with a deal that will give you 200% returns if you invest USD 1000 loves you so much as to want to make you commit such serious money? This is where our morals come in too. Our greed for quick money is partly to blame.

5. Sensitization, Wire says, is also important and it can best be carried out if Telecoms operators, the UCC, consumer protection associations and Media agencies combined efforts. Because there is a huge lack of knowledge on the subject and this is what is making many people fall prey.

Some people believe that by the time some one has your number then you have strong grounds to trust them. How ????

Wire however argues that unless the civil society rises up to pressure the telecom companies to improve their customer care, the service providers are not likely to act anytime soon!

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