Scam or MTN incompetence?

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Deenem

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So I get and SMS yesterday, 'Please expect a call from MTN SP to discuss the your contract upgrade, blah, blah, blah.'

Now, my contract expired last year sometime and I've already moved to a monthly contract, so when I get the phone call I'm not really interested in speaking to her.

Anyways, so she rambles through her script for a minute or two, then says:
Her: Before we continue I need your ID number so I can verify your identity.
Me: I'm not giving you my ID number.
Her: But I need it to verify your identity.
Me: You phoned me. If anything, you should be the one verifying your identity, not me. I don't hand out my ID number to complete strangers who phone me up.

Things deteriorated rapidly from there and eventually she just hung up the phone on me, but now I'm wondering, was it really MTN, just being their usual incompetent self, or was it some sort of scam?

Anyone else got these calls?
 
LOL, I reckon a scam, or a complete balls-up on MTN's part in an attempt to update their records or something.

Sad thing is, alot (maybe even most) would confirm their details. Its so easy to scam people in this world.
 
// Got the same call - i also said i am not giving my ID number to anyone - she suggested i phone 808
 
I got that SMS too in November 09. Also got phoned and I gave a bogus ID number, which the woman agreed with before asking my physical address. When I told her that i gave her some bogus number and asked who the fsck she was, she hung up?
 
Lazy said:
Hmmm....I'm not sure. I'm guessing the call was from an 'unknown' number?
What was the number that sent you the SMS, maybe that could give some sort of guidance?
Click to expand...

It came from an 084 number, sort of suspicious, although I migrated from CellC to MTN so I still have an 084 number. Usually means it came through one of those least cost routers, since they all still assume my 084 number is on CellC
 
I know MTN do that though, always phoned me up in the 3 months prior to a contract would expire.

Just give them an invalid ID num and see if they can confirm it being wrong :)

That said there are no chance i will upgrade via a phone call without studying offers and fine print in detail and there are -nothing- they can do for you over the phone; there's just NO POINT in going through the exercise.

Now if they get the fact that you're not due an upgrade wrong, even worse, but again i will expect MTN to mess that up. MTN really do seem to strike me as rather incompetent in the accounts/billing/retention departments.

In my case, i've received the same call -twice-. The first person did not even know i've already received the courtesy "upgrade" call a week before.

So i would also most likely refuse to provide details, even if i know it is MTN, simply because all they can do for me is TELEMARKET CRAP. This is like ABSA phoning you, asking your ID number to "confirm" and then start selling life insurance to you.....
 
Last edited:
lcbxx said:
I got that SMS too in November 09. Also got phoned and I gave a bogus ID number, which the woman agreed with before asking my physical address. When I told her that i gave her some bogus number and asked who the fsck she was, she hung up?
Click to expand...

:wtf:
 
Scam calls are usually terminated very quickly if it is a woman calling you and you start asking very personal questions...
 
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