Morocco calling

More than a month ago, I missed a call on my mobile phone from +212695325756.

I thought it was from New York – one of the Big Apple’s area codes is 212 – although I could not think of anybody who would call me. Most of the people I know in New York do not have my mobile number. And even the one or two who did would use Messenger instead.

Besides, I figured, if it was urgent enough, the person would call again.

Then, about two weeks ago, I missed another overseas call from +212684687390. I finally decided to google which country had that telephone  code. Well, my callers were both in Morocco, as it turned out.

I have not been to Morocco, although I would love to see the place, and I don’t know of any relative or friend who is there now. So I guess they were random calls from people who hoped they would get a response from me.

One of my chat groups posted this warning about calls from foreign countries. You can now add Morocco, country code 212, to the list.

People have been receiving calls from

       Tel: +375602605281

       Tel: +37127913091

       Tel: +37178565072

       Tel: +56322553736

       Tel: +37052529259

       Tel: +255901130460

or any number starting with *+371 +375 +381*

“These guys only ring once and hang up. If you call back, they can copy your contact list in three seconds and if you have a bank or credit card details on your phone, they can copy that too…”

   *+375 code is for Belarus*.

   *+371 code is for Latvia*.

   *+381 Serbia* .

   *+563 Valparaiso* .

   *+370 Vilnius* .

   *+255 Tanzania* .

“Don’t answer  or call back. Also, don’t press #90  or  #09 on your mobile when asked by any caller.

“??’? ? ??? ????? ???d ?? ?????? ???? ??? ????, ???? ????? ?? ???? ??????? ??? ????? ??? ?? ? ????????.”

Although a friend is not sure about the credibility of this story, he passed it on just in case it is true: “Just now my friend  received a call from 912250041117 asking him  to press 1 if he had (been) vaccinated.  He pressed 1. Immediately the phone was blocked  and his phone was hacked.”

UPS Premier now in PH

UPS Healthcare’s highly-specialized, best-in-class shipping service, @UPS Premier, is now in the Philippines.

The service combines a new level of tracking, prioritization and recovery for patient-critical, time- and temperature-sensitive shipments.

UPS Healthcare president Wes Wheeler said, “The difference between life and death for patients often hinges on the ability to quickly ship and precisely track, monitor and locate medications.”

He said, during the recent global pandemic, UPS Premier helped enable the delivery of hundreds of millions of corona virus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines around the world “with near-perfect on-time delivery”.

Of the three levels in the UPS Premier service portfolio available globally, the Philippines is being introduced to UPS Premier Gold that offers acceleration and “first-in first-off” prioritization, and near real-time monitoring through state-of-the-art proprietary mesh sensors built into the package labelling to narrow visibility down to three meters within the UPS network.

Other benefits include an expedited package recovery process that allows the shipper to configure specific handling instructions should an intervention be required, plus capacity for same-day redelivery. UPS Premier provides temperature-controlled shipping from ambient to frozen.

The entire process is overseen 24/7 by live agents with intimate knowledge of the shipment’s requirements ensuring medications remain compliant, preventing spoilage and loss of product, and reducing costs associated with reshipments.

Russell Reed, managing director of UPS Philippines, said, “At the heart of every UPS innovation is customer experience. . . . By combining visibility, traceability, control, recovery and international brokerage prioritization into one service, we’re redefining expectations and what is possible for the critical logistics industry, while taking customer experience to a whole new level.”

Critical healthcare packages delivered by UPS Premier Gold typically include tissue samples, biopsies, implantable medical devices for scheduled surgeries, and personally formulated medications.

Visit healthcare.ups.com and about.ups.com