Taichi Game Between Nokia and Singtel
First of all, sorry guys for not turning up for the gathering. Some last minute changes to my plans.
Anyway, I had to accompany my Dad to the Nokia Care centre to get his phone repaired. His phone was infected with a virus application and man... crazy things happened.
This story serves as a warning to all readers when accepting a file on your mobile phones.
My Dad was prompted to select if he wanted to connect a bluetooth application or something like that days ago. Being a user of bluetooth for hands-free talking while driving, and the fact that he has to wear his specs to read the pop-up. He did not read the application message carefully and just selected "OK".
Soon, funny things happened. Friends and even strangers called my Dad and asked if he sent them an MMS as they had received them from him. This happened very frequently throughout the day. Some of his contacts even received the MMS at 4.30am in the morning.
Weirder things - he would receive error messages saying his MMS could not be delivered to the following recipients - and all of them are house numbers. Why would someone send MMSes to a house line?
It appears that his phone is infected with a virus. I searched the net and found out that he has gotten the "commwarrior" virus. According to the Nokia Care centre staff, this virus is renowned to attack Nokia N70 model, which is the one my Dad is carrying. It automatically sends MMSes to all the contacts in your phone, 12 different MMS contents are discovered so far. And the amazing thing is, if someone turns on their bluetooth nearby, it also sends MMSes to them via bluetooth, explaining why strangers call my Dad. Even with the bluetooth switched off, the phone will still continue sending MMSes as and when it likes.
The real complication comes if all those MMSes translate to astronomical figures in the monthly bills.
Fearing this (paying for MMSes that we did not send at all), I called Singtel to explain to them the situation.
"Sir, currently we are not too sure what is happening to your phone, I will take note about it and when the next bill comes to you, you just give us a call and we will see what we can do." the customer service operator said.
I was worried that with no proof that we did not intentionally send the MMSes, they can still eventually deny our allegations and charge us the MMSes sent. The operator then said they will try to waive the charges if a virus is indeed the cause. I was told to go to the Nokia Care centre to get my phone done as this is not under Singtel's network problem.
Ok, as my Dad called and asked me to go to the Nokia Care centre, hence my absence for the gathering.
"So, can you print a statement to show that my phone was infected with this commwarrior virus in your diagnostic test?" I asked. I was always afraid that with no evidence, they can say anything they like.
"Sorry sir, but we do not include the fact that your phone is infected with a virus in the statement. We can only say that your have come to get your phone repaired/serviced. We cannot include the nature of the problem..." the customer service officer said.
Wow wow... I know that they will just clear everything in the phone and so called re-install the programs. A 'diagnostic test' report is not available.
"Ok, why not you go to Singtel and show them your phone that you have this virus application as evidence? I am sorry we cannot do anything about the statement."
Damn... a trip to Singtel Hello! shop with very long queues.
After explaining the whole situation to the customer service officer, she said "Well, we cannot do anything. From our records, the operator has noted your problem and told you to come to us when you receive your bills. At the moment, you have to get your phone repaired."
"But Nokia said they cannot print an evidence to show we have gotten this virus, so we came here to show it to Singtel." I said.
"But they should be able to print out something to indicate the problem is with this virus. We cannot write a statement here to say you showed us your phone and the virus application. You will have to go back to Nokia." she replied.
Think they are trying to play some Taichi game. I needed concrete evidence and none of them can provide me one. Pushing me here and there.
We called the manager of that Hello! shop and explained our situation for maybe the 4th time. This time round, the manager said "Ok, I can type in the records that you have actually come here and notify us the problem. We have seen the virus application and confirmed you made a report here. We will launch an investigation and if we see there are irregularities in your MMSes, we will waive off the charges." He typed everything and showed us the computer screen.
I am not sure if this is considered an evidence but somehow this is the most we can do.
Just a short story to tell.
-dakepaike-
Anyway, I had to accompany my Dad to the Nokia Care centre to get his phone repaired. His phone was infected with a virus application and man... crazy things happened.
This story serves as a warning to all readers when accepting a file on your mobile phones.
My Dad was prompted to select if he wanted to connect a bluetooth application or something like that days ago. Being a user of bluetooth for hands-free talking while driving, and the fact that he has to wear his specs to read the pop-up. He did not read the application message carefully and just selected "OK".
Soon, funny things happened. Friends and even strangers called my Dad and asked if he sent them an MMS as they had received them from him. This happened very frequently throughout the day. Some of his contacts even received the MMS at 4.30am in the morning.
Weirder things - he would receive error messages saying his MMS could not be delivered to the following recipients - and all of them are house numbers. Why would someone send MMSes to a house line?
It appears that his phone is infected with a virus. I searched the net and found out that he has gotten the "commwarrior" virus. According to the Nokia Care centre staff, this virus is renowned to attack Nokia N70 model, which is the one my Dad is carrying. It automatically sends MMSes to all the contacts in your phone, 12 different MMS contents are discovered so far. And the amazing thing is, if someone turns on their bluetooth nearby, it also sends MMSes to them via bluetooth, explaining why strangers call my Dad. Even with the bluetooth switched off, the phone will still continue sending MMSes as and when it likes.
The real complication comes if all those MMSes translate to astronomical figures in the monthly bills.
Fearing this (paying for MMSes that we did not send at all), I called Singtel to explain to them the situation.
"Sir, currently we are not too sure what is happening to your phone, I will take note about it and when the next bill comes to you, you just give us a call and we will see what we can do." the customer service operator said.
I was worried that with no proof that we did not intentionally send the MMSes, they can still eventually deny our allegations and charge us the MMSes sent. The operator then said they will try to waive the charges if a virus is indeed the cause. I was told to go to the Nokia Care centre to get my phone done as this is not under Singtel's network problem.
Ok, as my Dad called and asked me to go to the Nokia Care centre, hence my absence for the gathering.
"So, can you print a statement to show that my phone was infected with this commwarrior virus in your diagnostic test?" I asked. I was always afraid that with no evidence, they can say anything they like.
"Sorry sir, but we do not include the fact that your phone is infected with a virus in the statement. We can only say that your have come to get your phone repaired/serviced. We cannot include the nature of the problem..." the customer service officer said.
Wow wow... I know that they will just clear everything in the phone and so called re-install the programs. A 'diagnostic test' report is not available.
"Ok, why not you go to Singtel and show them your phone that you have this virus application as evidence? I am sorry we cannot do anything about the statement."
Damn... a trip to Singtel Hello! shop with very long queues.
After explaining the whole situation to the customer service officer, she said "Well, we cannot do anything. From our records, the operator has noted your problem and told you to come to us when you receive your bills. At the moment, you have to get your phone repaired."
"But Nokia said they cannot print an evidence to show we have gotten this virus, so we came here to show it to Singtel." I said.
"But they should be able to print out something to indicate the problem is with this virus. We cannot write a statement here to say you showed us your phone and the virus application. You will have to go back to Nokia." she replied.
Think they are trying to play some Taichi game. I needed concrete evidence and none of them can provide me one. Pushing me here and there.
We called the manager of that Hello! shop and explained our situation for maybe the 4th time. This time round, the manager said "Ok, I can type in the records that you have actually come here and notify us the problem. We have seen the virus application and confirmed you made a report here. We will launch an investigation and if we see there are irregularities in your MMSes, we will waive off the charges." He typed everything and showed us the computer screen.
I am not sure if this is considered an evidence but somehow this is the most we can do.
Just a short story to tell.
-dakepaike-
posted by fukepaike at 12:14 PM
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