Beware! KYC call from mobile wallet companies can steal your money

Beware! KYC call from mobile wallet companies can steal your money

Noida: A Noida resident was conned o the tune of Rs 9 lakh on the pretext of KYC verification of his mobile digital wallet. A person posing as an employee of an e-wallet company called him and asked him to download an app for verification of the KYC form.
“The caller convinced me to download an app and asked me to transfer an amount Rs 5 to an account, which would have been refunded. While Rs 5 was immediately refunded, the criminals withdrew Rs 9 lakh from my bank account,” the complainant said.
The Reserve Bank of India made KYC compliance mandatory for users of the bank, digital wallets and financial institutions. But cyber criminals are exploiting the directives and are targeting bank and digital wallet customers. They are scaring their targets to update their KYC or their account will be suspended. Instead of following a tedious documentation process in the bank they are suggesting them to download apps that can help them in smooth operations.
“As soon as the target agrees to update KYC details through the app, the perpetrators send them a link over a text message. The caller is asked to download an app. When the downloading is complete, conmen get access to the person’s screen through a remote desktop software tool. Such remote access apps are usually used by IT services – irrespective of wherever they are sitting – to troubleshoot computer-related issues by taking control of the device,” Azamgarh’s superintendent of police Triveni Singh.
Explaining the modus-operandi Singh said after installation, the caller asks the victim to perform a transaction to check if the account is functional. But the real motive is to use the OTP message to fraudulently withdraw money.
The fraud isn’t limited to mobile wallet users alone. Criminals are also creating fake customer service website where they are uploading wrong helpline number. So in this case, if a consumer look for a helpline or a customer support number of any company chances are high that they land up on a fake website and dial the number uploaded by criminals which is their call centre built dedicatedly to cheat people.