Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal on Thursday raised alarm bells for its 300-plus million subscribers in India more than the surge in instances of cyber frauds amid the ongoing pandemic. In an e mail sent out to clients today, Vittal highlighted the modus operandi that miscreants are seemingly adopting to trick unsuspecting customers – who are relying on on line transactions now more than ever – in order to mete out their nefarious practices, say for instance, to steal their challenging-earned cash. The e mail also carried some beneficial guidelines to preserve in thoughts to stay clear of becoming a victim of on line fraud for the duration of these difficult instances.
“With the growing second wave of the pandemic and lockdowns in various parts of the country, there has been a massive increase in online transactions. Unfortunately, there has also been a corresponding increase in cyber fraud,” Vittal stated.
One of the methods that fraudsters could trick customers is by calling or texting them beneath the pretext of an Airtel employee claiming their Know Your Customer (KYC) kind was incomplete. To facilitate this “false” claim, they could ask customers to set up a so-referred to as “Airtel Quick Support” app from the Google Play Store presumably by way of a hyperlink sent more than to their device. Be warned that no such app exists officially.
The hyperlink as an alternative is deigned to redirect customers to yet another app referred to as “TeamViewer Quick Support”, which is a malware in disguise, and when installed, it could permit the fraudster to get full manage more than the user’s device and all the accounts connected with it. Vittal urged customers to guard against such situations which is to say, be incredibly cautious about clicking on any such hyperlink and installing any such app due to the fact Airtel will “never ask you to download any third-party apps.”
Fraudsters could also attain out to customers with a guarantee of very discounted VIP numbers similarly. In lieu of this, they could ask customers to spend a particular token or booking quantity and turn into “untraceable” immediately after getting these funds. Vittal stated that “Airtel does not sell VIP numbers on the phone” and thus it was advisable to not fall for any such try.
OTP frauds are on the rise lately, Vittal stated, due to the improve in digital transactions as more and more individuals keep cooped up inside their properties to curb the spread of novel coronavirus. Fraudsters could contact customers beneath the pretext of a bank or monetary institution and ask them for their account facts, or an OTP claiming to unlock or renew their current account. If shared, this would permit them to withdraw cash from the user’s account. Vittal urged customers not to fall for such a issue.
Yet yet another way that fraudsters could dupe customers is by pretending to acquire a second-hand listed solution from a web site, negotiating the cost, and looking for out their UPI facts to transfer the funds. An SMS hyperlink is normally sent to the user’s phone to approve the transaction but as an alternative of crediting the quantity, cash is debited from their account.
Vittal stated in all the instances exactly where customers had been referred to as by fake Airtel staff, they could merely contact 121 to confirm if that was certainly the case – or if they had been becoming duped. The Airtel CEO added that the telco was working relentlessly to assure customers had been not vulnerable to these fraudsters and introduced features like “Safe Pay” that is stated to provide an extra layer of safety for every single transaction.
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