IVR Cyber Crime: New type of mobile scam defrauding citizens, check details

A few days back, a subscriber received an automated call pretending to be from Fedex. The automated call said, “dear Fedex customer, this is with reference to a courier you have sent through Fedex, drugs have been found in the package and the case is being handed over to police. To contact Fedex customer care, please dial 1”. Fortunately, this caller instead of panicking, sought help from experts and it was found to be a fake call.

However many unsuspecting callers panic at the mention of drugs and police and instantly comply with the instructions. The IVR call then urges the victim to press a string of keys on the phone. After this, impersonators posing as customs, police officers or courier executives interact with the victim over voice calls. They sound very authentic and sometimes come on Skype calls, wearing fake uniforms of the concerned department.

Once the user complies, they are asked to verify their identity by clicking various links sent to them, transfer money to provided account numbers or share sensitive information. This is done under the pretext of helping the victim clear their name from the alleged drugs related crime. Once they get the required information, they defraud the victim for large sums of money and disappear.

“Hello. This is the Mumbai High Court. A notice in your name has been given to Mumbai police. Press 0 to contact Mumbai police,” another recorded message said in a call made to a government official in Pune.

The Cyber crime investigators of Pune city police have warned citizens about interactive voice response (IVR) calls, which include pre-recorded messages and keypad prompts used to pull victims into a web of fraudulent schemes. Over the last two months, at least three dozen cases of different types of cyber crimes have been reported which begin with IVR calls, an officer said.

Both Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad police have reported dozens of these cyber crime cases since last year.

On March 29, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) of the Union Ministry of Communications issued an advisory to citizens that calls were being received by citizens wherein callers, in the name of the DoT, threatened that all of their mobile numbers would be disconnected or that their numbers were being misused in illegal activities.

“People need to clearly understand that no departments make such calls and seek transfer of funds. People should not click any link sent after such calls and not make any transfers. The local cyber crime unit or police should be immediately contacted if they have responded and further engaged in communication and transactions,” a police officer added.

To report such crimes, citizens must log in to https://www.sancharsaathi.gov.in/sfc/ or https://cybercrime.gov.in/ or visit nearest police station who will guide you to the appropriate cyber crime investigators.