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Cape Town – MTN subscribers who receive text messages for new SIM cards can rest assured that it’s not a scam, according to the company.
A number of smartphone subscribers have received SMS messages about the operator offering SIM card upgrades, followed by a courier appointment.
Fin24 user Aneeqah was sceptical of the offer, worried that cyber scammers were involved in a sophisticated con.
“I was called by a courier company, who told me that MTN was sending me a free LTE sim card. Prior to this I had heard nothing from MTN informing me that I needed one of these sim cards or that they were going to give me one for free,” she said.
“I told the courier company they could deliver the SIM card, but I was weary and suspicious and I still have not put it in my phone. I first wanted confirmation from MTN that this was not in fact a scam.”
MTN told Fin24 that the SIM card upgrade forms part of the company’s drive to move subscribers to the higher speed LTE or Long Term Evolution network.
Eligible subscribers
“MTN is aware that some of its customers have LTE devices eg mobile phones or modems. For their convenience, MTN is giving its customers a free MTN LTE SIM card that they can use on their LTE devices,” Larry Annetts, sales and marketing executive at MTN SA, told Fin24.
LTE has been prioritised by mobile operators as they move toward expansion mobile broadband in SA.
“You will experience faster upload speeds which will enable you to upload photos or videos in a flash. LTE opens up the capabilities to stream clearer videos with less buffering. It makes browsing the internet significantly faster, with most pages loading in less than a few seconds,” Annetts said.
The operator said it also planned to identify subscribers eligible for the upgrade and send a SIM card.
Here are the steps to enable the LTE SIM card in your device:
- SMS “Swap” from your current SIM to 44770
- You will then receive a One Time Pin (OTP) to your current MTN SIM. You are encouraged to save the OTP or write it down. The PIN is valid for 15 minutes.
- Then, SMS Swap plus your new MTN LTE SIM Number and the OTP to 44770. Eg SMS: Swap 1234567890*1234#. (Please note that your SIM Number can be located on your new LTE SIM Card).
- Wait until your existing SIM stops working and then proceed to insert your new 128k MTN LTE SIM card into your LTE capable handset and power it on.
- You will receive a Welcome SMS from MTN.
Before engaging in the SIM swap, it is advisable to back up your mobile phone data.
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