OTP fraudsters bank on lockdown to fatten purse

KOCHI: Covid-19 has crippled normal life and has been harsh on all segments of population, but not for a few who have taken the lockdown period as an oppurtunity. Online fraudsters are trying to make quick bucks by swindling the bank users who use smart phones for financial transactions, going by the spike in the number of attempts by con artists during the lockdown period.

According to Cyberdome, the technological research and development wing of the state police, since the lockdown came into force around 120 such attempts were made to dupe the public. In all these cases, the fraudsters, who posed themselves as bank representatives, tried to obtain the One Time Passwords (OTPs) from the users. The Cyberdome officials said the number is high when compared to the previous months.

Prior to the lockdown, the public used to receive a monthly average of 40-50 scam calls, which has doubled now. Though the number of scam calls has increased, only three people have so far lost money.
ADGP Manoj Abraham, the nodal officer of Cyberdome, said the majority of the callers claim to be bank officials trying to help the customers get moratorium for their term loans.

“The callers had asked customers to share their OTP and other credentials to help them avail the moratorium. They were trying to cash in on the financial vulnerability of the people. But not many fell for it as they were aware that the banking activities have been stalled due to the lockdown,” Manoj said.

The police have been repeatedly warning the public not to fall for such scams which ultimately bore fruits, Manoj said. Due to sustained efforts of various stakeholders, including police, the number of cases where people actually lost the cash has come down drastically. The Cyberdome said that until two years ago, at least 70 percent of swindlers could come out successful in their attempts, but now the number has come down drastically. “Now we get only about five such cases in which the scamsters were able to withdraw money. But in those cases also, we were able to recover the lost money,” sources said.