A couple of weeks ago an IT professional in West Bengal received an anonymous phone call. The speaker said he was making some online registration and had entered the phone number of the techie by mistake since the two numbers were similar. The caller further urged the IT professional to share the code received on the IT professional's phone received so that he (the caller) could complete the registration.
After intense examination, the receiver nailed the caller and found that he was a fraudster who was actually trying to reset the online bank account of his target using the One Time Password (OTP). An unsuspecting layman would have easily shared the code and would have suffered huge financial losses.
Every time the fraudulent means of illegal withdrawals from banks is plugged, perpetrators spring up with new ways of skimming money from accounts.
Cyberdome, the cyber security wing of Kerala Police, released a teaser that cautions the public against OTP fraud. The teaser tells how an anonymous callers feigning as a bank employee informs you that your ATM card is blocked and demands the details of the card including the secret pin number to restore it.
Those who feel it safe to divulge the details until the ATM card is not parted with would comply with the instructions from the caller. The fraudsters are exploiting such meek victims. The teaser is published on Facebook and YouTube.
The fraudsters commit the fraud through various mobile wallets and are said to be operating from Jharkhand, mainly from the fringes of naxal infested areas of the state. Jamtara district in the state is considered to be the hub of cybercrime in the country.
The police advises people to inform the cyber cell immediately after one realizes his or her own mistake of falling a prey to cyber cons so that further heavy damages are averted.