File Photo. Justin Sullivan—AFP
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) late on Friday cautioned the public against phishing and fraudulent links circulating on WhatsApp, social media and through text messages, stressing these are aimed at compromising their personal information.
In a notification, the PTA said messages falsely claiming to be associated with its Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) appear to be official communication and often claim a user’s SIM was found involved in “suspicious activities,” urging them to visit a link to check the number of SIMs registered against their name. Another example provided by the regulator was of a warning that the user’s phone registration would be suspended if they did not visit a provided link.
Such deceptive tactics, warned the PTA, were designed to trick individuals into clicking on malicious links, compromising their personal information. “The public is urged to refrain from clicking on links from unknown numbers as well as unknown senders,” it stressed, adding any recipients should report them to the PTA’s complaint management system so they could be blocked from access.
Such complaints, it said, could be lodged through the complaint management system by calling the toll-free 0800-55055 number; through the PTA’s official website (https://complaint.pta.gov.pk/RegisterComplaint.aspx), or through the PTA CMS mobile app.
The regulator further urged the public remain vigilant and utilize official platforms to protect personal information. It said users could check the status of their devices by visiting https://dirbs.pta.gov.pk or texting their IMEIs to 8484 from their device, or through the official app.