MUSCAT // Mobile telephone providers have been accused of exploiting religious sentiment by sending automated religious text messages asking customers to forward the messages to other users in a bid to increase profits, according to Omani telecommunications experts. Telecom companies, however, have strongly denied any involvement in the messages.
Anonymous texts such as "Remember to do good to all your fellow Muslims today and you will be blessed with eternal good fortune", are received by subscribers at least once a week. The messages then end with the words: "Forward this message to 10 people to earn the rewards of afterlife."
"These kinds of messages that exploit the religious sentiments of people are sent by telephone operators to boost their profits," said Ahmed Abry, a 31-year-old IT engineer who works as a government consultant for telecommunication network expansions.
On average, a text message costs .001 Omani Rials (Dh.001).
Mr Abry claims that phone companies set pre-arranged automatic messages that are sent out to random subscribers, though he does not say which telecom operator may be responsible. "The clever thing is that phone companies mask the sender of these messages and no one is able to trace the original text," he said.
In 2006, the government ended the monopoly of state-run Omantel as a sole provider of telecommunications services in Oman when a Qatari majority-owned firm, Nawras, was awarded a licence to be the second telephone company in Oman. The move has since opened up intense competition with six operators vying for three million mobile phone subscribers.
All telephone companies in Oman, when contacted, denied the accusations of sending the messages. A spokesperson for Omantel described the accusation as "ridiculous" while a Nawras official said: "It is absurd to suggest telecom companies in Oman are involved in such a scam."
Bu Hamed Farsy, a 52-year-old electronics technician who has made several complaints to Oman's telecom companies, does not believe them and says they are exploiting the piety of Omanis.
"The majority of Omanis, especially those living in the smaller towns, are deeply religious. They don't think twice to forward these questionable messages to other people, said Mr Farsy.
"For them, it is part of 'Daw'ah' that helps propagate the words of God to all." Da'wah in Arabic means to invite to do something. When it is used in conjunction with Islam it is understood to mean "Inviting to the way of submission and surrender to Allah", according to some Islamic texts.
But Mr Farsy said some messages go a step further and beyond the "border of decency". "They put the fear of God in you to make sure you forward them immediately with a threatening last line," he said. The last line of one message, according to Mr Farsy, reads, "If you do not forward this message then something bad will happen to you".
But not all the recipients of such messages take them seriously.
"I know it is a scam," Haneefa Ramadhan, a 26-year-old banker, said. "I just delete the message and I tell everybody not to respond. I also think the government should investigate but I guess it is hard to pin it to the telecom companies. You will not expect them to admit it."
Some Muslim clerics, concerned about the religious text messages, have cautioned the public not to connect them with Da'wah.
"Since we now have a reasonable doubt about the motives of these text messages, then those who consider them as Da'wah must stop thinking that way. And telecom companies must be ashamed of themselves if this is their idea of making money from exploiting people's faith," Sheikh Salim al Amry, Imam of the Al Hail mosque in Muscat said.
Sheikh Salim called for the government to investigate and punish offenders.
"This cannot go on. If the phone companies are responsible then they should not be above the law. Religion cannot be exploited without consequences and it must be stopped immediately," he said.
Oman's telecom watchdog, the state-run Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), said it was investigating the alleged scam.
"We have received some complaints about it and we are taking them seriously. The TRA is looking into it," a TRA official said.
One analyst said the subscriber base in Oman was not big enough to support all six operators and some of them are expected to struggle in the next few years.
"Three million subscribers is never enough for six companies when you consider that the biggest two, Omantel and Nawras, control most of the market for being there first. The rest, which are much smaller companies, will have to employ different techniques to stay afloat," Nitish Kaushik, a telecommunications consultant with Muscat Technology, said.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEmonovo%20(previously%20Marj3)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECairo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2016%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E12%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eeducation%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Ethree%20rounds%2C%20undisclosed%20amount%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
%3Cp%3ECreator%3A%20Tima%20Shomali%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0Tara%20Abboud%2C%C2%A0Kira%20Yaghnam%2C%20Tara%20Atalla%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A