CAIRO: The Ministry of Interior dispelled rumors that SMS and phone calls on mobile phones from unknown foreign bodies cause their recipients severe headaches followed by a brain hemorrhage that leads to death, according to an official press statement.
An SMS, with a number beginning with (+) and ending with (111), allegedly killed people in the city of Mallawi, in the governorate of Minya, as well as in Qena and Cairo.
The statement by the Ministry of Interior quotes health officials in Cairo, Minya and Qena who said that they had received no cases with such symptoms, adding that these rumors conflict with all the scientific facts.
A text message has been circulating among mobile phone users in Egypt reading: “Please be aware of this; if your mobile rings and you receive a number with strange colors on the screen, don’t open the line [sic] as this is a virus and it instantly hits the brain. It’s been noticed that there were many people hospitalized the past few days. Please spread.
The ministry, according to the statement, has tracked down the rumors and has detained three workers from the petroleum company ENPPI for allegedly starting the rumors. They are currently being interrogated.
However, some people have accused mobile service operators of starting the SMS chain to generate more revenue.
“It’s an old trick, text messages with warnings, health tips and holiday greetings with the words ‘Forward,’ ‘Spread’ or ‘Send to 10 people so your wish would come true’ . All that so the companies would profit from people sending more and more text messages, said Ahmed Osman, a driver in Cairo and mobile user.
Mobile service operators did not comment by the time of press. On the other hand, sources inside the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) told Daily News Egypt that officials at the authority still haven’t discussed their course of action.
