Before you celebrate your fortune, read what people have told Arab News about their experience with these and other elaborate scams:

“I received an SMS claiming to be from a major TV channel,” said Mumtaz Jaffar. “The SMS claimed I had just won a car, and I thought: How can this have the name of the channel if it's fake? But then, I hadn’t enrolled my name or number in any contest or drawing. But I have to say I got a little curious, and these days — with prices of everything skyrocketing — who would not appreciate a free car?”

The SMS instructed Jaffar to call the number and that the call would be for free.

“So I thought what do I have to lose? I’ll call and see. But the call was not for free, and I got charged for the call at the international rate since the number was a UK number,” she said.

On the line was a recorded voice. It asked several questions, including whether Jaffar had a bank account or credit cards. Then the voice said Jaffar had won $50,000, but the SMS said she had won a car.

“After this I hung up as I realized there is no car and no money, only the mobile bill that I had to pay,” she said.

Another type of cheater calls and claims to be from a major telecom operator ann-ouncing that the person who answers the phone has won SR200,000, that the call is just to ensure the person has been notified, in case he or she missed the televised announcement. The con artist eventually tries to persuade the person to give up telecom voucher numbers. Believe it or not, some people fall prey to this ruse.

An expatriate who prefers to remain anonymous told Arab News that he revealed the numbers of vouchers worth SR3,000 believing that he had won SR200,000.

“I received the call and I was so overjoyed since I have debts and other financial burdens,” he said. “I was happy. I thought I could solve all my financial problems.”

In other cases, victims are asked for numbers of iqamas (work/residency permits) or bank accounts.

Mobily Dammam branch manager Ahmed Tabraiz told Arab News that many subscribers have complained of fraudulent SMS messages.

“We have tried to track them, but we are unable to find these guys,” he said. “They use all fake information and through hacking they can appear to be international numbers while they are sitting here in the Kingdom,” he said. “These calls are not through Mobily.”