Hyderabad: In a scary development, scamsters are now using an unidentified mobile application through which they are able to gain remote access of screens of peoples’ smart phones. To gain access, the fraudsters call up unwary victims, then send an SMS telling them that their KYC (Know your customer) needs to be updated. They also offer to help complete the “procedure” online and then instead hack into the Paytm savings account or bank account of victims.
According to the Cyberabad Police’s cyber crime division, criminals have begun adopting new and innovative ways to cheat people nowadays. The cyber cell of the police has been receiving complaints with regard tocheating in the name of KYC updates for Paytm, wherein fraudsters ask people to download different remote access applications such as Team Viewer, Quick Support, Any Desk etc in the victim’s mobile and then steal personal data of victims, often causing loss to the tune of lakhs of rupees.
In one recent case, a complainant lost her money to fraudsters by downloading once such applications.
Radhika, a resident of Miyapur, received an SMS saying that she had to renew her KYC by calling a phone number or else her account would be suspended. Falling prey, she called the said number after which fraudsters imitated a Paytm executive and asked her to download the Quick Support App.
She was then instructed to enter her debit and credit card details in the app while making a transaction, after which fraudsters then made multiple transactions from her account amounting to Rs. 4 lakh.
To avoid falling prey to the scam, you can adopt the following techniques:
- Not to reveal the account details to anyone.
- Not to download any application without knowing its purpose and genuineness.
- Not to transfer money to an unknown person’s accounts even for checking.
- Your account details may be accessed by the fraudsters through the applications which you download without your knowledge and thereby you may be cheated.