Digicel said an email circulating, claiming that people were masquerading as company engineers and infecting customer phones with a virus, is a hoax.

Patria-Kay Aarons, public relations manager for Digicel, said after investigating the matter, they discovered that it was impossible. "It's definitely something not possible. It's a hoax," she said.

THE STAR had received an email claiming that people were masquerading as engineers and telling people to dial a sequence of numbers, which caused their phones to be infected by a virus.

According to the email, the engineer claims that he is checking the customer's mobile line and asks that customers press #90 or #09. "(They are) using a device, that once you press #90 or #09, they can access your SIM card and make calls at your expense," the email said.

"All mobile users, pay attention. If you receive a phone call and your mobile phone displays (XALAN) on the screen, don't answer the call. End the call immediately. If you answer the call, your phone will be infected by a virus," the email warned.

It also claimed that the virus would erase the international mobile equipment identity and international mobile subscriber identity from your phone and also all the SIM information. The email also claimed that the virus has infected three million phones worldwide.