Mobile Phone Death Threat "Virus" Arrives in Angola

Phone users in Angola seem to have been hit by a variant of the fake phone warnings which affected many users in Pakistan and Afghanistan last year. The warnings, often spread by SMS, but also by word of mouth claimed that "as soon as you answer your phone blood comes out of your mouth, nose and ears and you die"

Unitel spokesman, Henrique da Silva, who considered the rumours as a "bad joke", told the Angola Press Agency that this lacks scientific grounds.

"It's a bad joke, and we are asking our customers to keep calm and we encourage you to handle your cellphones without any problems. There is no computing virus causing death to human beings", stressed the official.

Last April, operators in Pakistan were forced to issue a joint statement declaring that a similar warning was fake and could not happen in fact - with similar advice issued a few weeks later by Afghanistan's Interior Ministry.

On the web: Angola Press Agency

Posted to the site on 21st January 2008