Know the common scams prevalent in India
1) Urgency for Medical or Police Cases
Parents receive a call from someone that your son/daughter met with an accident and please transfer some money to take them to the hospital
Similarly, they have been arrested. And then ask for money
Also Beware from Deepfakes
Parents don’t know much about AI, someone may even call with AI voice that looks like yours
2) Fake Courier Scam for Illegal Items
2-3 Callers would pretend to be from courier company, police, CBI, custom etc
They usually have your PAN, Aadhaar Number and claim that some illegal item is being sent on your ID and ask for money
3) Honey-trapping
Mostly middle age people get targeted, video calls from unknown number on WhatsApp
The lady make you comfortable and stripes, records the whole video and threaten to upload on social media if you don’t give them the money
Parents or victim easily falls into their trap because of guilt and societal pressures and embarrassment
4) Fake UPI Transfer
Someone would call you to claim that they have made an incorrect UPI transaction
Might send fake messages and screenshots that looks exact same like Bank or UPI App
They ask you to transfer back the amount by creating urgency
5) Your Papa Gave Me a Loan
You get a call from someone, they want to return some money they took from your parents years back
They even transfer some small amount to build the trust
Later they simply send fishy links / collect request, as soon as you click or enter UPI PIN
This is an Interesting Read covering more such cases, check carefully
6) Free Gifts
You’ve won a Tata Safari, 10 Gram Gold, Holiday Package, KBC Summer etc
They simply asks for some basic information, and ask you to deposit a small token amount to claim the gift (₹5000-₹30,000) by online or visiting a bank
That money never comes back
7) Electricity Connection Disconnect
Unique cases, you get a WhatsApp Message that your electricity bill is pending and will be disconnected
Once you download the attachment or click on the link, you expose your phone to the scammers
8) Free Cashback / Reward Points
Calls and messages that your reward points are expiring or you earned ₹10,000 cash back on your last purchase
In order to process the cashback, they send you a form or link
9) Fake KYC / Account Freeze
You receive a message that your bank account would be frozen because KYC is pending
Once you click on link, it looks like your bank’s website but a fake one
They ask for sensitive details like card number, CVV etc
10) Wrong Courier Delivery
You get a call for a COD parcel on your name, as soon as you say I didn’t order anything please cancel
They would ask for an OTP for cancellation, but it comes from your bank
If you say that why you need an OTP, they’ll simply say it’s a process
11) Foreign Job Promise
They take advantage of unemployment people, promise them that they are shortlisted for a job in Canada, UK, Saudi etc
They ask for Visa Fee to process the offer letter, keep asking money for different reasons till you realise you’ve been scammed. This was happening at the large scale
12) APK/Links on WhatsApp
There are many other ways how they send messages on WhatsApp with APK Files and suspicious links on the name of
Freebies
Religion
Banking
Medical Cases
As soon as one clicks on it, they get access to your SMS and important sensitive details more