CHANDIGARH: Haryana Police has issued an advisory requesting people not to share any personal information in response to messages being sent to them by cyber fraudsters regarding unpaid electricity bills.
Cautioning the people to be aware of such scammers, a Haryana Police spokesperson on Sunday said a latest trend of cybercrime has come to the fore in which cyber fraudsters have started duping people in the name of unpaid electricity bills.
"They send text messages pretending to be from trusted sources to get the targets to click on links that install malware to steal personal and banking details. We are constantly trying to help the people by advising them to refrain from falling into the trap of such scammers," he said.
Explaining the modus operandi, he informed that the fraudsters send a text message to their targets, saying your electricity will be disconnected as your previous month's bill was not updated and ask them to call on a phone number.
"Once the victims make contact, the fraudsters try to convince them to share their bank account details for the purpose of verifying previous payments. They also ask them to install remote access applications like Anydesk and Team Viewer," he said.
Once the victims share the information, the fraudsters get access to their bank accounts, he said.
Suggesting people to be extremely cautious, the spokesperson advised them never to share their personal information or phone number unless they are sure that the person contacting them is an authorised staffer of the power company.
"Avoid downloading software from unofficial sources and also avoid providing personal or financial information in response to the unsolicited text or at a website linked to the message. People should also avoid clicking on links in suspicious text, which could install malware on their device," he said.
"If, however, one still becomes a victim, any such incident should be immediately reported on cybercrime.gov.in portal or the nearest police station," the spokesperson said.