CHENNAI: A new modus operandi of impersonating e-wallet service providers is being adopted by fraudsters to swindle money from the unsuspecting public. Issuing a warning to people, cyber crime police said as many as nine such complaints have been received from across the state in the last month.
Explaining the fraud, a senior police officer said a fake interactive voice response (IVR) call was first made to the victim. It claims that suspicious activity has taken place in the person’s account and a suspicious new device was trying to log into the account.
The voice then asks the person to press number 1 to confirm their identity. Once it's done, an OTP is sent to the mobile phone through a text message. However, this message contains only the OTP and no information about any amount to be transferred is mentioned. Once the victim unsuspectingly enters the OTP, the call gets disconnected. However, when the person checks the e-wallet, it dawns that a huge amount is money has been debited from the account. Nine such cases have been registered in Tamil Nadu in the past month alone, the officer said.
Urging the public to exercise maximum caution, the officer said, “One of the important steps to remain extra vigilant is to enable two-factor authentication. Apart from the password for the account, this type of authentication will also require an OTP to log into the account. The OTP will be sent to the registered device automatically and does not require a phone call. This method will ensure additional safety to the account and it can be used to safeguard the account from these types of scams.”
(To report a cyber crime call 1930 or register a complaint at www.cybercrime.gov.in.)