Areeba Debunks Mobile Phone Rumours

Mobile telecommunication giant, MTN-AREEBA has described as unsubstantiated and technologically impossible, rumors making the rounds that subscribers are dying and going mad soon after receiving calls from a strange number on their phones.

There were widespread rumors over the weekend that AREEBA and other network users who receive calls from some type of numbers would go mad, die or get a virus on their phones. According to reports, users might receive calls from numbers that begin with 999 or have their screens go red when such calls are coming through.

At a press conference on Monday, the telecommunication giant said it is not technically possible to send a virus over telephone hardware hat can cause death or damage to the human body.

In addition, the network says it is also impossible for abnormally high-pitched sound beyond international regulatory standards to be transmitted across the network.

Corporate Executive, Mawuena Dumor told CITI FM that the company has lead with formal notifications to all other mobile operators in the country and the National Communication Authority on the issue.

Meanwhile, CITI FM's checks have revealed that certain leading mobile telecommunication companies abroad have been employing a tactic of this nature to rake in more revenue.

The report, which quoted Pakistan as one of the famous countries for such pranks, said key mobile telecommunication companies often cook up some of this information in order to get subscribers to spend more money by sending out text messages.