Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications, has taken a pro-active drive to prevent malicious incoming calls and safeguarding cyber crimes and frauds. The DoT explains how the scamsters operate and their Modus Operandi:
- The fraudster calls the telecom subscriber and pretends to be a customer service representative or technical support staff from their telecom service provider.
- The fraudster states that either there is a problem with their SIM card or there is some issue related to network or service quality and they need to dial a specific code to fix the problem. This code usually starts with *401# followed by a mobile number.
- After doing so unconditional call forwarding is activated on their mobile number and all incoming calls etc. are forwarded to the fraudster’s mobile number.
- The fraudster then receives all incoming calls and can be used for fraud.
The DoT has been actively informing all users and reiterates regularly How to protect yourself:
- The telecom service providers never ask their subscribers to dial *401#
- Check your mobile phone settings for call forwarding and disable immediately in case it is enabled. Use the facility only when it is required.
