An SMS message being forwarded to unsuspecting cellphone users claiming that a cellphone virus is doing the rounds is nothing more than a hoax, says service provider Vodacom.
The SMS message tells cellphone users that if they receive a phone call and their mobile phones display ACE-? (or something similar) on the screen, their cellphones will be infected by a virus.
Vodacom says this message is the SMS equivalent of a "crank" telephone call and should be deleted by those who receive it, as an outside party with malicious intentions has generated it.
Vodacom says the claims made in the message, that Nokia and Motorola have both confirmed the existence of the alleged virus and that it is mentioned on the CNN Web site, are completely untrue.
The company says cellphone users should note that the GSM cellular system as used in SA is the most secure cellular system in the world and is not vulnerable to attacks by viruses.
The use of SMS (short message service) text messages by SA`s 13 million cellphone users has exploded over the last couple of years, with Vodacom`s network alone handling about 250 million messages every month.
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