In a new trend in cybercrime, fraudsters have started a reverse con by offering to cancel the credit cards as compared to a number tele calling companies offering a fake one to dupe the citizens. The cyber police have taken note of this new modus operandi and forewarned its citizens to not get tricked into sharing your privy bank details with anybody over a phone call.
A senior cyber police official said that as and when the citizens learn about their tricks, the fraudsters change and upgrade their ways to con the victims. In a novel reverse approach, the fraudsters, who have the stolen bank data from the dark web, contact the victims on the pretext of cancelling the credit card. Once the victim falls prey to the con, the caller asks the victim to share their privy bank details.
After getting these details under the garb of 'confirmation', the victim receives a One Time Password (OTP), which the victim shares with the conman to authenticate the procedure. Soon after, the accused siphons off the money from the victim's account to the tune of thousands of rupees. Commenting on the reverse approach, the official added that since people have become well versed with the credit card orders, the fraudsters took the wrong way to get to the people.
Rashmi Karandikar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber) has appealed to the people to not share your privy bank details and OTP with anybody, and definitely not over a phone call.
"Police and banks have been time and again telling people that they do not ask for any OTPs and not fall prey to such cyber frauds. If one comes across such frauds, they should immediately stop contact and approach police with a complaint, who can investigate the matter," added Karandikar.
Recently, a Marol resident in Andheri (E) lost Rs 19,190 to a similar con. The complainant, Sandhya Nair (name changed), had received a call from a woman who introduced herself as an employee of the bank, of which she has a credit card. The caller offered to settle and close the credit card as it was not used in the recent past. Nair fell prey to the con and shared an OTP that she received to close the card, only to lose Rs 19,190 to a Bengaluru-based company. Having realised she was duped, Nair immediately approached police and lodged a complaint against the unidentified woman under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.
