Cyber crime unit alert
Alert To Mobile Users: The National Cyber Crime Theft Analysis Unit has issued a new advisory warning citizens about the USSD-based call forwarding scam, which is leading to financial fraud and hijacking of accounts. The warning, issued under the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, highlights how criminals are misusing basic telecom services to bypass security measures without requiring internet access. Criminals are posing as delivery agents and intercepting bank calls, OTP and messaging app verification.
According to a report by Moneycontrol, India’s Cybercrime Unit has alerted Indian users about USSD based call forwarding scam that fraudsters, posing as delivery agents, intercept bank calls, OTP and message app verification, that is, through this they take access to all the information of the users and then using this information, they even empty the bank accounts of the users.
How do cyber criminals carry out this scam?
According to the advisory, this scam is based on social engineering and takes advantage of users’ lack of knowledge about USSD codes commonly used in telecom services. USSD codes can work even without internet access and can be extremely dangerous due to their instant activation.
How USSD Call Forwarding Scam Works
The advisory states that cyber criminals, posing as couriers or delivery agents, contact victims on the pretext of confirming or rescheduling parcel delivery. During the call or through SMS, victims are asked to dial a USSD code which is usually a mobile number starting with 21 and controlled by the cybercriminal. As soon as this code is dialed, call forwarding starts automatically on the user’s phone, after which the scammers get direct access to calls coming from the bank, OTP verification and app verification calls. What then, after this cyber criminals can approve transactions without the knowledge of the users and can even control their bank accounts.
How can users avoid this scam?
Scammers often say over the call, “Your SIM is about to be blocked” or “You have received a reward,” and then get you to dial something like *401*
Check your SIM settings
If you suspect that your call is being forwarded, immediately use these codes-
To check status: Dial *#67# or *#21#. This will tell whether your call is going somewhere else or not.
To stop call forwarding: Dial ##002#. This will instantly remove all types of call forwarding from your phone.
Turn on 2 Factor Authentication
Keep ‘two-step verification’ on on your WhatsApp and bank apps. In this, just SMS OTP is not enough, but a PIN is also required.
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