{"id":20150,"date":"2026-02-08T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/2026\/02\/08\/dont-lose-12739-points-text-scam-to-cash-out-fake-rewards-fraud\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T07:00:00","slug":"dont-lose-12739-points-text-scam-to-cash-out-fake-rewards-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/2026\/02\/08\/dont-lose-12739-points-text-scam-to-cash-out-fake-rewards-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Don’t lose 12,739 points!’ Text scam to cash out fake rewards | fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I received a text message with good news. Your carrier has a rewards program and you’ve earned almost 13,000 points.<\/p>\n

You may not have heard of this plan before, but since many operators have compensation plans, we think you must have missed it. Clicking on the link will take you to a site with the carrier’s logo, where you can cash in your points to purchase things like a new massage chair or a high-end vacuum cleaner. All you have to do is pay the postage.<\/p>\n

Text messages, rewards programs, sites, and promises of expensive appliances are all part of the scam. However, this is just the latest ploy by criminals to extract and exploit banking information.<\/p>\n

Recently, fake text messages have been circulating claiming to be from EE and Vodafone and promising prizes from rewards schemes.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>This is a fake compensation scheme text message purportedly sent by EE.<\/span> Photo: handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An EE spokesperson said it first heard about the scam two months ago and since then 265,000 people have reported fake text messages. The company does not offer a compensation system.<\/p>\n

Vodafone operates a VeryMe Rewards scheme, although it is not called the "Vodafone Rewards Club” in some texts.<\/p>\n

EE said the message was sent via RCS, which is a more advanced type of message than SMS and, unlike SMS, which can be blocked, it cannot be blocked. EE said it is working with Apple and Google on the issue.<\/p>\n

Vodafone said customers are mostly not receiving texts marked as from Vodafone because the carrier does not enable RCS on iPhones. But people on other networks are receiving it.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

what it looks like<\/h2>\n

The text message purports to be a notification that you have accumulated points and states that most of your points must be redeemed immediately or they will expire.<\/p>\n

"This message is an advance notice regarding your Vodafone Rewards points. You currently have 12,739 points, 12,000 of which are due to expire in 3 days under the 2026 program,” one person says.<\/p>\n

Here’s another thing that purports to come from EE: "Important reminder about Rewards Points. You currently have 12,739 Rewards Points in your account. If you take no action, these points will expire in 3 days according to the terms of the 2026 Rewards Points Campaign. Please visit the link below to explore your Rewards options and redeem your points.”<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Screenshot of Vodafone’s text message rewards scheme.<\/span> Photo: handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

EE users who clicked on the link said they were directed to a seemingly legitimate site offering prizes in exchange for points. They were asked to enter their banking information so they could have their items mailed to them. After entering the details, one user said, "It just refreshed to a blank page with a spinning icon.”<\/p>\n

Scammers try to apply urgency by saying you only have a few days left to take advantage of the offer. This is a common tactic used by criminals to force people to make decisions they would not otherwise be able to make.<\/p>\n

what to do<\/h2>\n

If you receive the message, don’t click on the link.<\/p>\n

EE recommends that you highlight scams by pressing the \u201cReport Spam\u201d button on your mobile. You can also forward it for free to 7726.<\/p>\n

If you have provided personal information online, contact your bank immediately and report the incident to Fraud Report (formerly Fraud).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I received a text message with good news. Your carrier has a rewards program and you’ve earned almost 13,000 points. You may not have heard of this plan before, but since many operators have compensation plans, we think you must have missed it. Clicking on the link will take you to a site with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[47244,3093,3178,50753,47582,10573,49373,50754,16433,17020],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-consumer-affairs","category-crime","category-ee","category-mobile-phones","category-money","category-scams","category-telecommunications-industry","category-uk-news","category-vodafone"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20150\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}