Beware of KYC banking fraud, don’t reply to messages

Srinagar, Jan 13: Aijaz Ahmad, a resident of Baramulla, on Thursday received a message on his registered mobile number linked to his bank account. “Dear J&K Bank customer, your account has been blocked due to KYC. Kindly contact customer care at 7908250859 to unblock your account, Thank you.”
Soon after he received a message, he dialled the number mentioned in the message. The person on the other side directed him to follow certain steps to unblock his account. However Aijaz got lucky by realizing it was a scam and dropped the call, saving himself from getting into scammer’s trap.
The Reserve Bank of India is regularly making people aware not to share OTPs, card numbers, and other credentials, as bank authorities never ask for it.
According to a cyber police official, scammers are changing their methods of duping people as their fraud is exposed, and they have chosen a new method of duping people by sending them bank messages on their registered mobile numbers.
He said earlier, a fake links was being sent from some mobile numbers, asking consumers to pay the electricity bill via an online transaction by clicking on the link. Customers were also being asked to download mobile app to pay their electricity bills. If customers respond, there was a high chance that the computer system, along with the account balance in the bank account, will be hacked.
Not only these scams, but “the Kashmir valley has also witnessed a steep rise in sextortion, or extortion using sexual methods, and a large number of people are getting trapped,” the official said.
The extortionists make contacts on social media, and then make the “derogatory” video calls to these persons. If the person receives the call, the extortionists records this video and later blackmails the victim.
The technique used in WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram video call fraud is pretty straightforward. People receive a video call, most likely from a woman. The phone’s screen begins to be recorded as soon as people answer the video call. After editing the footage, the con artists reveal the victims in a naked state.
Later, the scammers would call the victims and demand money. If anyone does not pay the money, they threaten to release the modified video and share it with family, friends, and the public online.
Police has time and again cautioned the public not to answer video calls from unknown numbers as the cyber fraudsters are finding new ways to loot people.
According to a senior official from the Cyber Police, they make people aware of these threats regularly. The officer said if any person is facing the same situation, he should immediately contact cyber police, who will assist them in avoiding this scammer.