According to a report by ANI, the woman who lives in Mumbai’s Andheri area received an SMS regarding an unpaid electricity bill on her husband’s phone. The SMS further warned that if the bill is not paid on time, the electricity connection of their house will be disconnected. Along with the SMS, there was also a phone number to contact for payment.

Thinking it to be a notification from the electricity department, the woman called the mentioned number. The call was picked up by an unknown person who introduced himself as an employee of the Adani Electricity office. The person further assured the victim that he would help her in bill payment and asked her to download the app “Team Viewer Quick Support.”

Following the instructions, the victim downloaded the app and shared the ID and passcode, giving the caller access to her mobile phone. After a while, the victim received back-to-back three SMS about the transactions of Rs 4,62,959, Rs 1,39,900, and Rs 89,000. A total of Rs 6,91,859 was debited from her account.

Upon seeing the large transactions, the SBI Fraud Management team also contacted the victim to verify if the recent transaction was from her side, which she denied. After finding out that she had fallen for cyber fraud, the victim went to the Andheri Police Station along with her daughter and registered an FIR about the fraud. The police have registered a case against an unknown person under sections 420, 66(C), and 66(D) of the IPC.

Similar cases have been reported in Mumbai and other parts of the country before. Scammers send SMS messages that create emergency situations, such as the discontinuation of electricity bills or the closing of bank accounts. They then share phone numbers or links for further action. Once the victim falls for the SMS and clicks on the link or makes the call, the scammers manage to gain access to the victim’s phone number or obtain an OTP to steal money directly from their bank account.

To stay safe from such scams, it is highly advisable not to click on any links attached to SMS messages received from unknown numbers. It should be noted that neither banks nor government organizations send such SMS messages or ask for any OTP or app downloads to pay an amount. If you receive a similar message over SMS or WhatsApp, delete the message, block the user, and report it to the bank or cyber cell.

Read full report from : India Today Dated 23 Mar 2023

Reports NewsDayExpress :

“A new case of fraud has come to light from YouTube, due to which the incidents of bank fraud are being executed. According to the research report of cyber security firm Cloudsec, there has been a 200 to 300 percent increase in fraud incidents from YouTube videos.

If you also search some videos on YouTube, then you may become a victim of bank fraud. Because there has been an entry of dangerous malware in the YouTube video, which installs the malware in your device.

How hacking is being done : When you watch a video on YouTube, the description is given below for more information related to that video. If some links are shared in this, then they are infected with dangerous malware. As soon as you click on this link, a virus enters your phone, which steals the personal information of your device. what not to do often people look for some jugaad, such as a jugaad to watch Netflix subscription for free, after which it is advised to click on the link in the description box below for more information. While searching for the crack version of Adobe Premiere, some people visit a fraud YouTube video, from where they take damage by clicking on the description link. In this case, any software or service with subscription and paid version should be used. Any YouTube information should not be taken as true, because YouTube is an open platform, on which anyone can create and upload videos.

Read full report at : Newsdayexpress/

Some tips to travel safe with your cards

1. Inform the bank about your International travel (so that your transactions away from India are passed seamlessly)
2. Set a limit on your domestic transactions (This is required until you cross the borders of your country)
3. Set a limit on your overall international transactions
4. Set desired limits on your transactions category wise like ATM, eCommerce and contactless routes
5. Make sure that your card is well protected from the misuse of ‘Contactless facility’ by wrapping it around silver foil and other recognized methods
6. In case of ‘Domestic only cards’ , make sure to set a bare minimum limit or better to zero
7. On reaching your international destination, remember to block domestic transactions and (if required) international transactions too.
8. Make a note of your card details including number, validity period and cvv. Also keep handy the online link , password and contact details to reach your card provider, in case of need.
9. Ensure safe keep of critical data related to your card and share the same with your close confident so that they could react at your behest
10. Remember that OTP (One Time Password) is not in vogue in many countries and transactions will be through even without it.

Indian Overseas Bank  (IOB)  has published the contact details of Ombudsman for complaint management and resolution

On February 16, 2023 the 43-year-old woman received a new SBI credit card. On the same day, she was contacted by a person claiming to be a bank official. He offered to help her activate her credit card.
“Unaware of such cheating, she revealed the credit card and bank account details to the person over the phone,” a police official said.

The accused later said that for completion of credit card activation and its usage, an application named QS Support has to be installed on the mobile phone. As directed, the victim too installed the app before she received messages that Rs 3.21 lakhs were debited from her bank account on seven transactions and Rs 48,000 taken from her credit card.
“The app which the complainant installed on her mobile phone was a remote access application. This allowed the fraudster to access the victim’s mobile phone. He obtained all the required passwords and OTPs to complete the transactions. Even though the victim approached the bank, they were helpless and advised her to lodge a police complaint,” the police official said.

However, the police are still puzzled about how the accused person learned that the victim had received a new credit card. Police suspect the victim might have searched for new credit cards on fake websites alerting fraudsters about a new prey. “The cyber fraudsters approaching people for credit card activation is a new method.

We suspect that no recent case of similar nature has been reported in Kerala in recent days. A probe is conducted based on the mobile phone from which the victim received the call and about bank accounts to which the amount was transferred from the victim’s account,” the police official said.

News Courtesy The New Indian Express

A resident of Lake Town in northeast Kolkata received a call from an unknown number and was told that she could revive a “lapsed insurance policy” by paying a nominal amount.
As told, the woman downloaded an app on her phone for the payment and shared the passcode with the caller, and soon lost Rs 14 lakh from her bank account, police said.
A man who the police identified as Mithun Mondal, a resident of New Town but originally from Kachukhali in South 24-Parganas district, has been arrested.
The woman lodged a police complaint on February 14.
“According to her complaint, she received a call from an unknown number. The caller introduced himself as an official of a reputable insurance company and told her that one of her insurance policies with an hefty amount as ‘sum assured’ had lapsed. She was told that the lapsed policy could be revived and she could still claim the benefits, but for that she needed to pay a nominal amount as tax,” said an officer of the Bidhannagar police commissionerate.
The woman apparently agreed to make the payment and was told to download an app on her mobile phone and share a passcode. Within a few minutes of doing that, Rs 14 lakh was debited from her bank account, the police said.

News courtesy: Telegraph India