Let us give you a brief of a telephonic conversation that involved my grandfather. He received a call day after yesterday from a cyber-criminal. Here are the call excerpts:
Caller: Hello grandfather.
Victim: Hi.
Caller: Hope you recognize my voice.
Victim: Is it Thomas?
Caller: Yes… Your oldest grandchild.
Victim: Oh! You? What’s the matter?
Caller: Not really. I am in Singapore with my friends to spend my summer vacation and on my way I was involved in car accident.
Victim: How are you now?
Caller: I am better.
Victim: How are your friends and the car?
Caller: They are doing well. The cops arrested us as I exceeded my intake of medicine I was using for viral infection recovery. Unfortunately I failed the breath analyzer test and I had to stay at cop’s cell throughout the night. I am calling you from police station booth now. Can you please bail me out?
Victim: Why didn’t you inform your dad?
Caller: You know what kind of rapport I share with him. I request you to not to inform my mother as she gets tensed very easily.
Victim: How much do you need?
Caller: $500.
Victim: Sorry I cannot as I will be needing money for your grandmother’s treatment.
Caller: Please grandpa, I want to leave this place. I am feeling tortured.
Victim: Sorry my child.
Caller: hangs up the phone.
Fortunately my grandfather was aware that I was in town only and had spoken to him few hours ago.
Suggestions from eScan
Apparently it seems that it is a normal conversation though it can be a nasty cyber trap. Cyber-crooks always try to indulge in something unique every now and then. Following are the suggestions given by eScan to safeguard from above scam:
- Verify the caller’s identity.
- Think twice before doing any transaction.
- Find out the call whether it is legitimate just by calling their respective parents.
- Never respond to emails or calls from suspicious sources, which demand money.
