Hyderabad cybercrime police warn citizens against sharing OTPs

Hyderabad Cybercrime Police have warned citizens not to share OTPs as fraud cases rise. Scammers use calls, WhatsApp, fake numbers, and UPI requests to steal money. Victims are urged to report suspicious activity via helpline 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in.

Hyderabad: With incidents of cyber fraud on the rise, the Hyderabad Cybercrime Police has cautioned citizens against sharing One-Time Passwords (OTPs) under any circumstances.

Police said fraudsters were using phone calls, text messages, WhatsApp chats, fake customer care numbers and phishing websites to deceive people into revealing OTPs, leading to unauthorised access to bank accounts, digital wallets and online platforms.

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“Scammers often pose as bank officials, customer care executives, delivery agents, or job and loan facilitators to create urgency and extract OTPs,” Cybercrime officials said, adding that in several cases, victims are also being tricked through fake UPI collect requests, online refund offers and SIM swap frauds.

Citizens have been advised to ignore unknown calls or messages seeking OTPs, avoid approving unfamiliar UPI requests and verify customer care numbers only through official websites or apps. Sharing screenshots containing OTPs has also been flagged as a serious risk.

The Cybercrime Wing urged victims or those noticing suspicious activity to immediately report it to the National Cybercrime Helpline 1930 or through the cybercrime.gov.in portal.