SMS Rip Off

Not a day passes when one doesn’t receive an SMS enticing the naïve to take part in Lotos and Lotteries of all sorts. Early this morning I received one such SMS reading “It is the Winning Times. Write JK (most probably Jazz Khazana or some thing of the sorts) and send it to 5555. It will entitle you to win the 50,000 of the day. Charges Rs. 8/= plus Sales Tax plus SMS charges”. Each mobile phone company has tens of millions of their SIM holders and according to a rough estimate 20 to 25 percent people take part in such scams. One can imagine the daily windfall for the mobile companies after dolling out the pittance of Rs. 50,000/= !! Is it not a fit case for a suo moto action or intervention by the Shariat court – the act being unIslamic?

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)