Paytm user? Did you just get this call? BEWARE! It can be a trap, can cost you money

Much to Paytm users fears, fraudsters are out to steal their money. Cyber crime expert says such online frauds are executed through malware-attack, which people can avoid by taking a few steps.

Paytm KYC: Fraudsters are making phone calls to people in the guise of customer care callers and ask users to update Paytm KYC through a particular link. Photo: Reuters

Delhi-resident Ranjan has been a long-time Paytm user. Recently, he got a phone call claiming to be from the Paytm customer care to get his Paytm KYC updated. The call was from a fraudster. After a brief conversation, the fake Paytm customer care caller sent him links and asked Ranjan to click on that to complete the process. After clicking on that link, Ranjan got the shock of his life as Rs 28,000 was immediately withdrawn from his bank account! Worse news was to follow! Expressing his grief, Ranjan told Zee Business TV that neither local police nor Paytm is doing anything in this regard.

Shockingly, something similar took place with Nitin Tyagi of Ghaziabad too. On 1st October 2019, a fake Paytm customer care caller asked him to get his KYC updated and sent a link too. Tyagi clicked on that link and immediately it led to a loss of Rs 2,100 in two installments (Rs 100, Rs 2000)! Tyagi lodged a complaint against the fraud at Paytm but the company said that there was no such call made from their side. However, Paytm did lodge Tyagi's complaint.

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There are other examples of fake customer care calls in the name of KYC update leading to the loss of innocent people's hard-earned money. Such fraudulent activity is taking place across India and Indian cyber crime officials are looking for these fraudsters. However, they are yet to taste success in the Paytm KYC fake customer care call cases.

So, in this smart online world, it's better to become vigilant and avoid sharing personal information or precious time with strangers.

Speaking on the kind of frauds being carried out by fake customer care callers in the name of Paytm KYC, Pawan Duggal, a New Delhi-based cyber crime expert said, "Such frauds are called malware fishing. In this type of online fraud, fraudsters call their target with alluring offers and ask them to click on a link. Once, the victim clicks on the link, the entire database of the victim becomes available to the fraudsters. Their confidential information like date of birth, PAN card number, Aadhaar card number, bank account number, debit and credit card number, etc. are compromised, which is enough to execute online fraud either through card cloning or through online money withdrawal from the victim's bank account."

Duggal said that such kind of fraud falls under the malware attack and if someone wants to avoid such fraud taking place against them, he or she should download anti-malware software on one's desktop and android or iOS, which is available free of cost and can be downloaded with a simple Google search. Duggal said that anti-malware software would negate the chances of Malwarebytes in future.

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