CEO of Bharati Airtel suggest its subscriber that they doesn't sell VIP numbers over the phone and will never ask you to download third-party apps. If someone calls you and tells you to download an app, they immediately call 121 and report.
Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom operator, shared a letter warning more than 321 million subscribers against the rise in cyber fraud cases. According to Gopal Vittal, CEO of Airtel India, customers are guided to install applications that can track all accounts on their smartphone.
Gopal also warned customers against digital payment fraud when they access subscriber one-time passwords and UPI details to make fraudulent payments. We are in an age where technology is evolving, but it seems that the number of cybercrime is also increasing. Let's take a closer look at the new letter sent by Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal.
Bharti Airtel alert for cybercrime
India is currently going through the second wave of devastating COVID-19 and in the midst of all this, the number of cybercrime cases has also peaked. According to the company, there was a massive increase in online transactions during the second wave of the pandemic.
The letter suggests that the telecom company is working tirelessly and introducing security features to ensure the safety of customers.
Vittal also highlighted the modus operandi that the scammers are adopting. He also mentioned ongoing cyber scams related to digital payments. According to Vittal, there has been massive growth in online transactions and parallel growth in cyber fraud cases.
The letter is published to draw attention to the type of scams that users may face. In addition, he added that the telecom operator is working on a feature "for the purpose of conducting secure online transactions" without fear of being duped by a scammer.
Vittal also confirmed that Airtel does not sell VIP numbers over the phone and will never ask you to download third-party applications.
If someone calls you and tells you to download an application, they immediately call 121 and report. The subscriber should beware of fraudulent callers pretending to be Airtel employees, asking users to download the app for an incomplete KYC form.
The scammers ask users to install the "Airtel Quick Support" app from the Google Play Store so they can help.
But the fact is that there is no such application in the Play Store, when the customer tries to install it, he is redirected to the TeamViewer Quick Support application.
This application will allow users to access the smartphone remotely and the accounts associated with the device.
Airtel customers also receive calls and messages from scammers offering VIP numbers. To get the number, users are asked to make an advance payment as a token / reserve amount after receiving the amount that the scammer blocks all contact with the person.
According to the CEO, Airtel has the safest way to make payments called Safe Pay, it comes with an extra layer of security for every transaction.
Before making the payment, Airtel's network intelligence sends a message asking the person attempting the fraud to confirm the transaction. Therefore, if you activate this feature, you will be less vulnerable to scammers.
