Hyderabad: With more cases of SIM card swap fraud cases being reported across the country, the Telangana police is now asking people to be on alert if their SIM remains blocked for a longer duration than normal. Cops have suggested the public to immediately contact service providers if they notice anything amiss.
In many instances reported across the country, victims were cheated after fraudsters obtained a duplicate SIM of their number after blocking the original SIM. They would then use it for financial frauds (through OTP payments). All this is done with the connivance of SIM card providers, said police officials.
“The technological advancement is giving an upper hand to fraudsters who are adopting various new techniques or modus operandis. SIM card swap is one such technique,” said a senior official of the Cyber Crime police station in Hyderabad.
The SIM swap fraud occurs usually when any fraudster obtains a new SIM card from a particular person’s mobile service provider using the person’s registered phone number. “At times they get the person’s mobile phone number blocked using forged identity documents and obtain a new SIM either the same number or a new number. If new, they get the SIM card registered at the banks or other financial institutions or e-payment gateways through online mode and do transactions,” said the police official.
The fraudsters afterwards withdraw money from the bank and dupe the victims. If the SIM card is blocked the person should immediately contact the customer care of the telecom company and also the bank and alert them. Immediately, the internet banking should be stopped to prevent anyone from transferring the funds.
Victims can also alert the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination center’s toll free number 155260 and register a complaint.
