It is crucial to remember that in any official transfer, whether balance or cash, through Transfermóvil or through Etecsa USSD codes, the recipient will always be Cubacel or PAGOxMOVIL. In no case will the confirmation message arrive through a private number
In April of this same year, Etecsa issued a warning about this type of scam. (Photos: Cubadebate).
“Good morning, ‘broder’!” was the surprising greeting that began an unexpected telephone conversation. My interlocutor confessed to having made a mistake when transferring 450 CUP of mobile balance, funds that, in reality, were intended for another person. “Could you forward it to me?” he finally requested.
I politely agreed to check my balance to verify the authenticity of their request. The consultation revealed that he had 59.15 CUP. Since I had made a recent purchase, any additional transfers would be easily identifiable. A suspicion then arose: could it be an attempted scam?
I decided to scrutinize the message that supposedly confirmed the arrival of the transfer. At first glance, it looked like a standard message from Etecsa, Cuba’s telecommunications company. However, something was wrong: instead of showing the usual contact name, a private number was presented. It was the perfect bait for a balance transfer scam.
I opted to play a little and wait for his call again, perhaps to subtly mock his failed attempt. However, the call never came.
In April of this same year, Etecsa issued a warning about this type of scam: “If you receive an SMS with a supposed money transfer and then a call requesting you to return the money, we recommend that you check the 10 latest operations on Transfermóvil to verify their authenticity, as you could be facing an attempt to scam”.
In addition, users on social networks have reported that people interested in carrying out transactions in the informal CUP/MLC purchase and sale market have tried to scam them using the same method: a message from a private number that shows the message from Etecsa.
It is crucial to remember that in any official transfer, whether balance or cash, through Transfermóvil or through Etecsa USSD codes, the recipient will always be Cubacel or PAGOxMOVIL. Under no circumstances will the confirmation message arrive through a private number.
