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Phone Scams are soaring up:
The festive season is here in India and so are the scammers. Phone Scammers have been trying every bit of information to scam you out of your hard earned monies and this is the best time in India to carry out scams.
No doubt that digital transaction is lightning fast but when you are hit by a scam, the rate at which your monies disappear is also lightning fast. Even before you get a chance to call up the banking authorities and in turn they block your card, it would be quite possible that criminals would have emptied up your bank account.
Phone scams have been on a rise and a few moments ago I had to privilege of enjoying one such phone scam call. The Caller was impersonating a Bank official, nothing new about it and wanted me to provide my Debit Card Number. Since this is Diwali time and not wanting to dampen their spirit, gave them some non-existent number. Very well known for sure that if they try to verify the number it would turn out to be a fake number.
There are numerous websites which would validate the correctness of card number and scammers are the first ones to use these services, so as to identify whether their intended victim is providing them with the right information or not. Their logic is simple, if the debit/credit number is valid that means they can carry on with their scam.
Once the Credit/Debit Card number is validated, the second phase of scam is initiated. In this phase, the scammers would collect the additional details viz. Expiry Date and CVV, they would also collect your Aadhaar Card number and then register themselves with an online wallet.The Registration process requires OTP from the concerned organizations and it is this OTP which these scammers are interested in.
Phone users have been depending on TrueCaller for identifying Phone Scammers and the scammers also know this for sure, hence, they create a legitimate telephone number profile so as to add legitimacy to their scam.
This is as far as online banking scams are concerned. Being an Indian, every person who has bought something or the other using cards would vouch that OTP is required for completing the transaction. This is partially true.
Payment gateways, located in India are by Law required to adhere to Two-factor Authentication process as mandated by Reserve bank of India. However, for any payment gateway located outside the jurisdiction of India would never initiate the TFA authentication and in order to conduct such transactions Card Number, Expiry Date, and CVV are the only pre-requisites.
There have been instances, wherein victims have claimed to have never received an OTP and I believe, it is for this exact reason that they aren’t receiving the OTP.
Indian Cyber Criminals are still in their nascent stages and have a very long way to go before they become capable of carrying out complicated and technically advanced attacks. That being said, they do learn very quickly and adapt themselves.
Before signing off, a reminder for all :
1: The Caller Asked for your Card Number – Disconnect the call
2: The Called asked for OTP – Disconnect the call
3: When using TrueCaller – Mark this number as SPAM and rename it as “Bank Phishing Scam”
4: The Caller is your Bank Manager – Step out of your busy schedule, and meet your Bank Manager personally. It is one great way of staying connected with the people who work behind the scenes and once in a while say :
Wishing you all a very Happy and a Safe Diwali.
PS: +91-7280069606 – is one number you wouldn’t want to answer and has been shared with Mumbai Police and CyberCrime Department.
For more information, visit – eScan AV
