The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Thursday issued a warning against fraudsters who are posing as technical staff of telecom companies and asking phone users to dial *401# followed by a mobile number to fix a problem with the network.
The fraudsters call to say that there is a problem with the subscriber’s SIM card or there is some issue related to network or service quality and they need to dial a specific code to fix the problem. This code usually starts with *401# followed by a mobile number.
If this number is dialled, an unconditional call forwarding is activated on their mobile number and all incoming calls etc., are forwarded to the fraudster’s mobile number.
The fraudster then receives all incoming calls and can gain crucial information such as bank account numbers and passwords that can be used for fraud.
The DoT has advised that all subscribers should check their mobile phone settings for call forwarding and immediately disable it in case it is enabled.