Desi Slice 10: Never Give Your Mobile Phone To Strangers
Even if they say they want to dial out a number in emergency. You dial it for them instead.
Photo by Mikhail Nilov: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-person-people-smartphone-7534378/
This is a minor but profoundly useful update on the previous Desi Slice 6 version -which was about soaring cyber crimes in India especially among mobile phone users from organized criminal gangs with significant expertise in tech.
It is not uncommon for you to run into a stranger at a public place, like an airport, train station, or subway who seems anxious or confused and seeks help. Especially at those critical moments when you are looking for a cab or just exited the airport terminal. The person will ask for your phone with a desperate face and ask for your phone to call an emergency number.
And you hand over your device in good faith hoping to help a stranger in distress. That is the wrong thing to do.
Why?
This stranger will simply push *401*9xxxxxxxxxxxx (your number). This is a call forwarding code and all incoming calls to your phone will henceforth get forwarded to their mobile number (which they will set separately on a portal through a PC or their phone. Once this is set up, you will collect your phone from the stranger and go home thinking all is well. But your inbound calls have been permanently cut off from your phone.
You will receive no alerts and have no idea this has happened unless someone tells you.
There is a Solution:
You need to dial *#21# on your phone to check if your calls and messages are getting forwarded to some other number.
If your calls are being forwarded then you can dial ##002# and disable all call forwards immediately.
Whoever did the forwarding, did not do it for fun. They identified you as a target and initiated the call forward. The next step in their sequence of tasks would be to somehow hack into your bank account or wallet and receive alerts (OTP forwarding or not forwarding is still a mystery as some versions of OS claim that SMS is not getting forwarded) but in any case, the risk of losing access to your phone can be unnerving.
The point of this update is to bring to your attention that it is just not worth giving your phone to another person no matter how dire the circumstances appear to be. Instead, you can ask them to give the number they want to reach and you dial it for them.
And be watchful. As soon as they are done speaking (do not let them go astray with your phone for the conversation for several minutes), take your phone back immediately.
This is an update to my original piece that was covered on Desi Slice 6 which is here:
Desi Slice 6 - India's Fintech Boom: A Double Edged Sword -The Unbridled Rise of Cyber Crimes
There is a downside to every uptick - an ugly outcome to everything good.
Were You Hacked?
Should you feel that you have been hacked, do not panic. Do the following:
The National Helpline number for reporting cyber crime in India is 1930:Â
Financial cyber frauds: Call 1930 to report financial cyber frauds, and then complete the complaint on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) Website here: https://cybercrime.gov.in
Other cybercrimes: Report cyber crimes online on the NCRP website
Indian Cybercrime Coordination Center: https://i4c.mha.gov.in/index.aspx
Cybercrime Contact Info line: https://i4c.mha.gov.in/contact.aspx
Stay Safe. Be Present. Share safety tips widely. Never click unknown links.
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