Kolkata: Both the Kolkata Police and the West Bengal Police have issued warnings about a new WhatsApp scam targeting gullible citizens of Kolkata and across West Bengal.
According to a Bengal Police video on Facebook, the cybercriminals are using the WhatsApp call merging feature to commit these frauds. They are intercepting OTPs and thereby gaining unauthorised access to bank accounts.
The modus operandi involves calling the intended victims, often citing referrals from mutual acquaintances.
Consequently, the victim is requested to merge the call with another number, purportedly belonging to a bank official or the fake ID of an acquaintance.
What the police are trying to make citizens aware of is that these merged calls connect them to an automated OTP verification system from their actual banks. All profiles need to be authenticated with two-step authentication. In Kolkata, only around 33 cases of such fraud have already been reported.
Hundreds of people across India have fallen for such cyber fraud, facing identity theft, personal document compromise and money losses in the last three months.
The Reserve Bank of India has issued guidelines requiring banks to enhance their verification process and customer education programs.
The Banking Association of India has also emphasized that financial institutions never request OTPs via phone calls.
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