NOIDA: With several complaints of calls from unknown numbers asking people to register for the
Covid vaccine,
police have issued an advisory asking the public to refrain from entertaining such fraud calls. Police have also asked people to not share any details with such callers.
Apart from Noida, complaints of such calls have also been received from various UP districts such as
Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Basti, Mau, Ghazipur and Pratapgarh. People from Gurgaon and Hyderabad have also registered such complaints, thus attracting advisories from the cyber cells of different states.
Explaining the modus operandi, police said that fraudsters call the targets and ask for their
Aadhaar number, email ID, etc for authentication of Aadhaar.
In some cases,
cyber criminals also pose as officials from the health department or other government agencies and apart from Aadhaar number, also ask for bank account details and insurance policy to register for Covid vaccine. They also demand a fee for the registration.
Ankur Aggarwal, additional DCP (central Noida) and in-charge of cyber cell, told TOI, “After taking the Aadhaar number, the accused would ask for the OTP received on the registered mobile number. The target would assume that the OTP is for Aadhaar authentication, but it is a trap for deducting
money from their bank accounts. These details are sensitive and should not be shared with anyone.” He added that while the vaccination process is expected to start in January, the government has so far, not announced any such registration norms for the public.