Text message for ‘Aadhaar link’ costs man ₹61K

A 32-year-old man from Dahisar was duped of ₹61,000 by a cyber-criminal using a method of SIM card-swapping.

The victim was tricked into changing his SIM by the fraudster who later used the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to withdraw money from his account.

The complainant, who requested anonymity, told Hindustan Times, “Earlier this month around 2pm, I received a phone call from a man posing as an executive from a network service provider I was using. The fraudster told me that I had not linked my mobile number with my Aadhaar card and so my number would soon be blocked. In order to prevent my number from being blocked, he instructed me to message a numerical code to 121. He told me that my number would remain switched off for a day,” the man said.

After sending the message, the complainant’s account was disconnected for 24 hours.

The victim’s phone number was linked to two of his bank accounts and the fraudster changed the bank record of the mobile phone details to reflect his own contact number.

He then used the UPI service to withdraw money from the two bank accounts.

Approximately ₹42,000 was withdrawn from one account and

MUMBAI:

₹19,000, from the second account.

“After finding out that I had been duped, I approached the MHB Colony police on 12 June and lodged a complaint. I gave a copy of the first information report (FIR) to the bank. I don’t know if they will return the money,” said the complainant.

Cyber advocate Vicky Shah The user is called by the fraudster to inform him that his number will be disabled as it is not linked to his Aadhar; is pending KYC verification; or there is a network upgrade by the telecom service and the SIM will not work for a while.

The fraudster then informs the user of a 19-digit code that of the new SIM card which is in his possession and tells the user to send an SMS to 121 with the 19-digit code.

The user receives a confirmation message from the service provider informing him that it has received a SIM change request. He is warned not to proceed if he does not have the new SIM with him. If hewishestoproceed he needs to confirm the SIM change, by replying to the message with ‘1’.

said that he has seen a rise in such cases over the past three years.

“The best preventive step is to avoid any SMS response or providing an OTP for any phone verification. If in doubt, visit the phone network store in person,” he said.

“People falling prey to such crimes are also at fault because it The user can send NOSIM to 121 to stop this process.

Despite the warning, when the user responds to the SMS with ‘1’, he receives a message stating: "Thank you! New SIM will be activated shortly for your mobile number. For security reasons, the SMS service will remain blocked for the next 24 hours.”

Once the update on the SIM card is confirmed, the fraudster accesses the person’s bank account. If you stop getting network connectivity or are unable to use SMS, visit the nearest cellular service store or contact them about the issue via customer care

Carefully read any messages sent by your network provider referring to SIM changes

would take gross negligence on the part of the victim to divulge so much personal information on a phone call.”

Similar crimes have taken place earlier this month as well. A woman from Thane lost ₹1 lakh to SIM card-swapping after a man posing as an executive from her cellular service provider tricked He will need the debit card details and expiry to configure the same. This can only be known by the issuing bank or revealed by the customer.

Typically, for the fraudster to get a new SIM card from the service provider and gain access to the user’s bank account details, he will also collect a variety of other personal details regarding his target, including the last six digits of the individual’s bank debit card Be wary of opening emails from unknown links. Scammers may use such emails to hack your account and get personal details

Register for instant alerts (via SMS and emails) that inform you of any activity in your bank account. Check your bank

her into changing her SIM by lying that her number would be blocked as she did not link it with her Aadhaar card.

In another case, the Bandra police registered an FIR after a cyber thief tricked the victim into sending the code claiming it would facilitate the 4G service on his phone. He then accessed her and its expiry date.

This is often procured via phishing emails or by vishing - imitating legitimate business tele-callers (from a bank or cellular service provider). The OTP that gets generated then reaches the new SIM which the cyber thief has, enabling him to transfer money out of the account.

(As explained by Cyber Advocate Vicky Shah)

balance and account statements on a regular basis but remember not to save the details online.

Create strong passwords for all online accounts, especially netbanking. Mix lower case and upper case letters and try and include a number and a symbol.

bank account and stole ₹1 lakh.

Last month, a 31-year-old woman registered an FIR with MRA Marg police after a woman posing as a cellular service provider employee used the SIM swap method and withdrew ₹24,000 from her bank account.

(Limit for UPI per day per transaction is ₹1 lakh only.)