Scam Alert! Fraudsters using toll-free numbers to get money from people, know how to be safe

New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a notice against the frauds which take place on an everyday basis.

The notice issued by RBI's Supervision department along with Central Office Cyber Security and IT Risk Group (CSITE). According to the notice, a scam where mobile numbers quite similar to banks' toll-free numbers are being used to get money out of bank accounts. The scammers generated mobile numbers which resemble the Banks' official toll-free number and later created fake profiles on call identification apps such as TrueCaller.

The scam followed this modus operandi:

XYZ Banks' toll-free number is 1800-456-4567. The scammer will try to get a number closest to the given one e.g, 800-456-4567 and register the same on caller identification app such as TrueCaller as the toll-free number of XYZ Bank.

When an innocent customer tries to find contact details of XYZ Bank on TrueCaller, he gets the number which is created by scammers and calls them.

Scammers who attend the phone calls, appear very professional and get all the information from the customer. They try to present attractive offers which are exclusive to the individual and in order to avail the offer, ask for sensitive information. Customer's bank details, credit/debit card details, CVV, OTP is demanded and if the customer falls for these tricks, a number of transactions take place with no time leaving the bank account completely empty.

Nobody from the bank will ever try to contact you or will ask you for your personal details. One must never share details such as One-Time Password (OTP), CVV, card details with anyone. 

Always go to the official website of a Bank and follow the instructions given there. Always try to use official bank apps and try to contact customer care there. Never share your bank details with anyone who claims to represent a bank.