Fake customer care number scam

How it works

You search online for a company's helpline and reach a scammer, who asks you to install a screen-sharing app such as AnyDesk to "help" — then empties the account.

Red flags

• !The number came from a search result, an advert or a social media post.
• !You are asked to install a screen-sharing or remote-access app.
• !You are asked to read out an OTP or enter your PIN “to receive a refund”.
• !The agent calls you back from a personal mobile number.

Example

With that code they can see and control your phone, including your banking app and OTPs.

This is an illustration of the pattern, not a copy of a real message. Real ones vary in wording.

What to do

1. 01End the call.
2. 02If you installed a screen-sharing app, uninstall it straight away.
3. 03Change your banking and UPI passwords and PINs from a different device.
4. 04Call your bank on the number on your card and block cards and net banking.
5. 05Find helpline numbers only in the company’s own app or on its own website.

Where to report

• Your bank

  Call the number printed on the back of your card or shown in your bank’s own app, and ask them to block the card or account and dispute the transaction.

• Call 1930

  The national cyber-fraud helpline. If money has left your account, call straight away — the sooner it is reported, the better the chance of the money being frozen.

  Call 1930

• National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal

  File a complaint online at cybercrime.gov.in. Keep the acknowledgement number it gives you.

  Open cybercrime.gov.in

• Sanchar Saathi (Chakshu)

  Report the suspicious call, SMS or WhatsApp number to the Department of Telecommunications, even if you lost nothing.

  Open sancharsaathi.gov.in