The Dean

I have a potentially serious problem (at least I think I do) and I thought I’d share it with you lot in the hope of getting some helpful advice and feedback.
Earlier this afternoon I received on my UAE mobile a text from another UAE mobile number. It read as follows:
“Dear friend! I have new girls coming now. If you want get good service and relax. Please calling me. You can get good feeling massage. Thank you for call.”
I’m not in the habit of spending time with whores or similar, but even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be so stupid as to give them my main UAE mobile number. This is the phone, to give you an example of why I’m concerned, that I lent to my teenage daughter a couple of weeks ago to take to MotE when her own had a flat battery. My wife, who is UK-resident, routinely uses it to send texts when she is visiting Dubai.
But the most sinister aspect is the phrase “Thank you for call.” I have never called that number in my life, and certainly don’t recognise it as belonging to anyone I know (so I don’t think it’s a mate winding me up).
I’m assuming the owner, a pimp or whatever, simply makes up some random numbers, strikes lucky with a few of them, and may get two or three ‘clients’ out of say a thousand texts – enough to make it worthwhile?
I could call the number and confront the owner, but that might make the situation worse. So what do you think I should do?
Call Etisalat? Call the police? Bearing in mind I’m now in Riyadh, I wouldn’t be able to, say, attend a police station to make some sort of formal report. I’ve heard of that Al Ameen (not sure of the spelling?) but I think that’s for vulnerable young single women who are being stalked, etc, and I wouldn’t want to waste their time (vulnerable young women need protecting far more than I do).
Has anyone else heard of this happening? I know I joke about a lot of things on this forum, but this has got me quite concerned.
And finally – the BIG question……… should I tell my wife? (Ladies may answer that one – I can predict what the guys will say!)

beebee

[should I tell my wife? (Ladies may answer that one – I can predict what the guys will say!)[/QUOTE]

Yes, but also make it known that you are reporting it to Etisalat on your return here.

Because of my job my number is displayed in Gulf news along with my name, and at one stage my photo, I was getting calls at all hours, and some of them were quite disgusting.. all i did was call the number back.. and got a friend to pretend he was the police.. they were warned that if another call was made then it would be traced. The calls stopped.

Ray

Its just an advertising ploy... I get a dozen emails a day thanking me for my interest in there products ..be it everything from loans to blue pills ..

thats why its addressed "dear friend" they don't know you..

Forget it ...its just dross

The Dean

Ray, that reply is so unhelpful it borders on the stupid (and that's the LOWER not the upper border).

This was a text message not an e-mail. Spam e-mails can be deleted unopened, but this is different. Do you have a theory about how they obtained my number? Or was my guess correct (it was randomly selected)?

OK then - over to you: if YOUR daughter had received that message while borrowing your phone, what would you have done? How would you have explained yourself when she understandably went straight to your wife to tell her about a message Daddy has just received? It is the only text message I have received in ages whose sender I was unable to identify, and you didn't even try to explain how I might have dealt with the 'thank you for your call' comment.

Beebee, thank you for your post - I should have known the ladies would give me a more serious and thoughtful response.

Miss Eck

I would tell your wife. Let's say she sees it or you get a similar one at a later date, then you could land yourself in hot water!

I don't disagree with Ray's opinion either ... that is the short no frills answer from a guy.

But otherwise, just ignore it. You should see some of the spam emails we get at work, they really are gross but we all just bin them.

MataHari

I am a lady...and I agree with Ray
It's just random spam...nothing more, it does happen on mobile phones just as it does on the internet. Just treat it like that and that's it...
I am surprised you are taking this so seriously...

Ray

We get the same by land line phone calls .... we dont bother with cell-phones... I am sure you can block number without problems

advertising covers all communications
computers are set to randomly dial all number
they just set the area code ..then it dials 0001
and carry on up the numbers to 9999 ..
or whatever your system uses

PS .. the wife get lots of email telling her how to get a bigger penis.. how to meet new women etc .. as does everybody else....

its just advertising

Ray

And just to be even more useless
Over 50% of all text sent are spam

Google text message spam

Confucius

Call them up from Saudi,and get details for a wild weekend in Dubai...

Amazing Grace

I would also tell your wife, you have nothing to hide. Somehow like the computers these bar stewards can get into the phones, dont ask me how but they can and they download this rubbish that you have had. It is very unerving but if this is the first time you have ever had a call like this it can be and is very upsetting. When I lived in Papua New Guinea years ago I got phone calls on the landline as there werent any mobiles in the early 80's there telling me that he knew my husband had gone to work and that he was watching me. I was on the next plane out even for a 30 hour flight the way I felt but then other people told me they had all had similar at some time or another. Tell your wife

Confucius

Do you have some kind of an axe to grind with The Dean???

Miss Eck

no ... just his wife

Confucius

Spiteful women!!!

Miss Eck

Women will always rat on men!!

Confucius

And women believe their biggest enemy than to believe their men...