The Call Forwarding Scam Is Serious Business: You Could Lose Millions Without Getting Concerned

The cost of India’s digital transformation is high: millions of people are suddenly easy pickings for con artists. The call forward fraud, which is now making headlines, is in addition to the UPI and bogus delivery agent scams that you are already aware of. In addition, this fraud has the same potential to empty your bank accounts as the others, and you won’t even be aware of the crime taking place in the background.

Most of the time, call forwarding is a helpful function that lets users transfer calls to an other number in the event that their main line is busy, unreachable, or unanswered. However, you may be wondering how a call forward manages to pilfer money from your bank account. To answer your questions, we’ve provided comprehensive information on the newest scam in town.

PHONE FORWARDING SCAM: AVOID CALLS FROM THESE NUMBERS

The most recent event amply demonstrates the growing prevalence of call forward scams, and consumers should be made aware of their tactics before falling for them. The con artist will phone you pretending to be your telecom operator or internet provider (it may be Vi, Jio, or Airtel).

They’ll claim that there’s a SIM card issue or that your cell account has been compromised. Anyone may reasonably get terrified by these problems, and con artists take use of this fear to coerce victims into disclosing personal information.

After then, the attackers will demand that you call a number that begins with the number 401. By calling this number, you are enabling the scammer to listen in on your conversations and send texts that include sensitive information, such as OTPs for bank account or UPI transactions. They can get your bank account validated and take money out if they can access it with these data.

Since the transaction is being allowed by the registered account holder, the bank won’t even send you a warning since the number is set to forward calls. We are discussing this fraud since it was recently perpetrated on someone, who lost money from their account. Although the victim did report the occurrence to the authorities, situations such as these may be prevented by exercising caution when disclosing personal information to others.

WAYS TO STAY AWAY FROM THE CALL FORWARD SCAM

– The first and most crucial piece of advice is to never answer calls from unknown numbers, even if they seem to be from your internet or phone provider. These folks have no business telling you that your account has been hacked or that your SIM card is malfunctioning.

– If you do decide to take these calls, please never, ever provide sensitive information such as your home address, bank account number, or other personal information. Additionally, do not exchange OTPs or phone any number these agents advise you to.

– Avoid clicking on any messages received from dubious phone numbers. They might be able to access your phone using these URLs and malware programs.