Team Herald
PANJIM: The Cyber Crime Cell of Goa Police has issued advisory against online frauds after cases emerged in the State where victims have been approached by fraudsters masquerading as mobile company representatives urging the call receiver to upgrade Know Your Customer (KYC) details.
The advisory warns people that online fraudsters are using ‘new innovative method of cheating’ by targeting mobile connection subscribers on pretext of updating their KYC details.
“The fraudsters state that mobile numbers will get blocked and will not work if KYC is not updated,” it states.
The Cyber Crime Cell has revealed that the impersonators call or send SMS informing the mobile user that his/her mobile number services will be blocked if KYC details are not updated urgently with Aadhaar Card.
“The fraudster then asks the customer to update the KYC online, for which a remote access application from the Play Store is asked to be downloaded. They then ask the customer to pay a nominal fee of Rs 1 or Rs 2 towards KYC updation charges through online payment. During this process, the credentials such as card details, OTP, etc, are collected by the fraudster through remote access application or through social engineering,” the advisory states explaining the modus operandi of the fraudsters.
Since the credentials of the call receiver are shared, the money is siphoned off from the victim’s bank account. The police state that social media accounts can also be compromised through the remote access application.
In view of this, the Cyber Crime Cell has asked the general public to never respond to such calls and SMS, to not share any details with the caller, not to download any remote access application or other application on the instruction of such callers, and if the customer faces any SIM card issues visiting the nearest Customer Care Centre or Mini Store is advisable. “Avoid searching for customer care numbers on popular search engines as fraudsters have flooded their number citing them as the customer care number of several popular server providers. Money can be siphoned off,” it says. The police have also asked people to report such calls or SMS to the nearest police station or the Cyber Crime Police Station.
