KOCHI: With the detection of new financial fraud in the name of EMI moratorium, the state is witnessing a surge in such cases as more and more people are falling prey to the fraudsters who are luring them over the phone with fake offers of heavy EMI discount, according to the police. About 30 complaints in this regard have been received in the past two weeks.
“We have received more than 30 calls alleging online fraud in the name of EMI moratorium offer so far. Subsequently, we have blocked the numbers from which the fake messages were sent using our technology,” said ADGP Manoj Abraham, who is the nodal officer of Cyberdome.
The modus operandi of these cyber crooks is they contact the customers pretending to be the bank’s representative via phone and lure them to share their bank account details, debit card details and OTP, following which money is siphoned off from their accounts. Links to websites are also sent to the customers’ phones offering discounts in EMI, said the police. Those coming across such instances, have been asked to report it.
“In this lockdown period, cases related to phishing and scamming have increased manifold by up to 25 per cent in the past two weeks in the state,” a senior police officer said. Police warn the public not to rely on internet search for bank customer care numbers as fraudsters use search engine optimisation for listing their fake websites on top of the search results. The bank’s customer care number is mentioned in the passbook and in the official website of the banks, said a police official.
Stern warning
Police warn not to rely on internet search for bank customer care numbers as fraudsters use search engine optimisation for listing their fake websites on top of the search results