BENGALURU: Cybercriminals appear to be constantly reinventing their bag of tricks to target unsuspecting citizens. After scams involving KYC updates, credit card upgrades, and fake loan offers, fraudsters have now begun exploiting the buzz around 5G services.Recently, a man posing as a telecom company representative duped an elderly person of over Rs 8.2 lakh. The victim was David (name changed), a retiree and resident of Kalyan Nagar. His ordeal began on Feb 27, when he received a call from one Kaiful, who identified himself as a telecom company executive.
How to guard against fraud
He told David that his mobile connection was still using 4G and needed to be upgraded to 5G. He sounded professional and convinced David that the upgrade was necessary to ensure uninterrupted network services. Under the pretext of completing the upgrade, the fraudster persuaded the victim to follow a few instructions on his phone. The scammer managed to block his SMS and email alerts, preventing him from receiving transaction notifications from the bank. He carried out multiple unauthorised transactions using two of David’s credit cards. The fraudster informed him that the network would remain blocked until the night of Feb 28.Caution from bankOn Feb 28, David received a call from one of the banks where he held a credit card, cautioning him about suspicious financial activity. He requested the bank officials to block his credit card, explaining that his phone had been hacked. He also contacted another bank and blocked his bank account and second credit card. Later, around 3pm, he visited a nearby telecom store and informed the staff about the call regarding 5G upgrade. The staff clarified that telecom companies do not make such calls for network upgrades. He then replaced his sim card. The stolen money was cleverly routed through digital platforms on the morning of Feb 28. A portion of the amount was converted into gift vouchers on a major e-commerce platform, while the remaining funds were transferred to a digital payment wallet, making it difficult to immediately trace the transactions. David lodged a complaint with the cybercrime helpline (1930) before approaching east cybercrime police on March 5. A case has been registered under the Information Technology Act and Section 318 (cheating) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. A senior officer said the case highlights how fraudsters are adopting newer and more sophisticated techniques, including blocking communication alerts and diverting funds through digital wallets and online vouchers to hide their tracks.
