In recent years, fraudulent websites that in most cases, clone ETECSA IDs and messages have proliferated. They offer appealing international top-up options, but those who receive them in Cuba often don't enjoy all their benefits. Juventud Rebelde inquired about this event.

Although the Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA) executives have warned about the growing number of fraudulent websites that clone IDs and messages related to international top-ups, this phenomenon continues to occur, causing serious damage, not only to the company, but also to the users of this service.

“In recent years, fraudulent websites that in most cases, clone ETECSA IDs and messages have proliferated. They offer appealing international top-up options based on the use of national packages. These offers do not come from the Company's official distributors. They use private numbers to redirect significant sums of money,” explained Arelys González Fernández, ETECSA's Senior Director of Institutional Relationship, in an exclusive interview with Juventud Rebelde.

According to company top-management, this situation results in the company not receiving the revenues necessary for modernizing and expanding its telecommunications infrastructure. At the same time, it generates additional stress on the network.

González Fernández added that ETECSA has received “complaints from customers who apparently benefited from an international top-up, but do not enjoy all the benefits that most of them offer, such as access to certain platforms without data consumption or unlimited internet.

This is because if the international top-up is not received from ETECSA's official distributors, which can be found on its official website, "it is not possible to ensure that customers benefit from a legitimate service with legal support," emphasized González Fernández.

To know if the top-up is legitimate, the process is very simple: the SMS that you will receive on your phone must come from CUBACEL, the sender, in capital letters, a message to which, in addition, it is not possible to reply. If it comes from a private number, whether Cuban or foreign, then it is part of the reported fraud here.

On the other hand, unofficial offers, although they may seem cheaper, carry the risk of fraud, warned the Senior Director of Institutional Relationship. She added that "only official channels are capable of guaranteeing the protection of customers' personal and financial data, as well as backup and support in the event of technical problems."

"Providing reliable and safe services to our customers is one of our priorities. To achieve this, however, we need everyone's cooperation in using official channels," she said.

Although the operator is working to mitigate and eliminate this phenomenon, it still persists. Therefore, it is essential that people develop a digital security culture in today's times. The first step any customer can take to ensure their international top-up is completely legitimate is to stay informed through the company's official channels.