The Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau is warning citizens to be careful of cyber fraudsters who are pretending to be law enforcement and extorting money from victims. The fraudsters use recorded calls claiming to be from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and say that the victim’s Aadhar card and phone number have been compromised. They then threaten the victims with arrest and demand large sums of money.
The director of TGSCSB, Mahesh M Bhagwat, explained that the fraudsters target mostly women and use fear tactics to get victims to transfer money. They claim that the victims have committed crimes by compromising their Aadhar card numbers and use fake FIR numbers to scare them into paying up.
Victims receive calls from a mobile number posing as TRAI and are told that their mobile number will be blocked within two hours. The callers have personal information about the victims and claim that the sim cards linked to their mobile numbers are being used for illegal activities.
The fraudsters then connect the victims via video call on Skype, where a fake policeman reads out a fake FIR against them. To avoid arrest, the victims are pressured to transfer large sums of money online. Many victims have lost lakhs of rupees to these scams.
The TGSCSB advises citizens not to answer calls from unknown numbers, not to believe claims about compromised Aadhar cards or mobile numbers, and not to give in to demands for money. They recommend recording calls, taking screenshots, and reporting any fraudulent activity to cybercrime Police or through the website www.cybercrime.gov.in.
