Man duped of over Rs 50 lakh through missed calls, Hyderabad police caution citizens

In SIM-swap fraud, criminals gain access to a victim’s phone through fake emails (phishing), fraudulent phone calls (vishing), fake text messages (smishing), etc.

Hyderabad: After a Delhi man was duped and robbed of over Rs 50 lakh by some unknown scammers through a series of missed calls even without sharing any One-Time Password (OTP) or personal details with the accused, the Hyderabad city police alerted citizens to stay cautious against the SIM-swap technique.

In SIM-swap fraud, criminals gain access to a victim’s phone through fake emails (phishing), fraudulent phone calls (vishing), fake text messages (smishing), etc. They then use personal information to create a fake identification, impersonate the victim, and mislead the telecom service provider to issue a duplicate SIM card. Once the duplicate SIM starts functioning, the original SIM gets blocked.

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With the help of the duplicate SIM, the fraudster can get an OTP and other alerts required to complete financial transactions through the victim’s bank account.

The city police asked people to get in touch with their service provider immediately if they believe their SIM card has been switched.

Some early SIM-swapping attack warning signs:

Your device will start acting up when you have been hit with a SIM-swap attack. You cannot send or receive texts and phone calls. You will suddenly be signed out of all your applications and various other accounts and can’t log back in. Your social media accounts or the email may get hacked.

If you have the proper settings enabled, you may receive notifications or email alerts that profile information for your service provider and other accounts has been changed or that logins were made from unrecognised locations or devices.

In some cases, you will receive notifications from your provider that your phone number or SIM card has been activated somewhere else. Your financial institutions will send fraud alerts or suspicious activity.

How to prevent SIM-swapping?

It is mandatory to set up two-factor authentication using authentication apps. Never click on links in suspicious messages. Your internet browser will usually ask you if you would like the sites you visit to remember your password or even debit or credit card information. It is better if you always say no and do not set up auto fill as a shortcut.