Suspected phone scammers are taken into custody in Beijing in 2012. (Photo : Reuters)
Mobile phone scammers have almost victimized Lei Jun, the billionaire chairman and CEO of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, who complained about receiving a phishing text message on his Sina Weibo account on Wednesday, April 26, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
According to Lei, the scammers sent the message using the number 95555, the official hotline of China Merchants Bank. The first message read: "China Merchants Bank notice: your account has been locked, please log onto m.cmbghna.com to register under your real name, or your bank card will be cancelled."
The second message said: "China Merchants Bank urgent notice: your mobile bank account will expire today, please log onto m.cmbghna.com to register again and if no re-registration is conducted, your bank card will be cancelled."
Lei also posted screenshots of the phishing messages he received over the past month, the report said.
"Text message scams are so rampant. I just received another one. Everybody be careful!" Lei added.
"Dear customer, your mobile banking service will expire tomorrow. Please log on to [the site] for verification," a message sent to Lei on Tuesday, April 26, said.
Lei's previous posts were mostly on Xiaomi and other tech news, but with his recent posts about the scam, thousands of social media users reacted.
"I have a friend who was cheated out of 200,000 yuan ($30,800)," one Weibo user wrote.
Another user asked Lei what he would do to stop the fraudulent messages. "Mr. Lei, can you make a smartphone that can detect all these scams?" microblogger "C Luoxuan" asked.
Some peers in the industry took time to make fun of Lei's experience and promote their brands.
"When it comes to detecting phishing messages, 360 is the expert. Mr. Lei should communicate with us more often," Zhou Hongyi, chairman of Qihoo 360, wrote.
"I suggest you switch to Huawei smartphones, and these scams won't bother you anymore," said product manager Li Xiaolong from Huawei Technologies, Xiaomi's rival phone maker.
According to the report, mobile phone users in China lose thousands of yuan from phishing text messages and phone scams every year. Recently, authorities nabbed 62 persons suspected to be involved in a 117-million-yuan scam in Guizhou Province believed to be the biggest telecom fraud case in the country.
