#ScamAlert: Hello, this is Delhi Police officer calling! Or not?

If you happen to receive a call from a random number and hear the person on the other side saying, ‘Main SHO bol raha hun’, then pause and check rather than panicking. It’s possible that it might not be an official from the Delhi Police but rather some conmen who are fully capable to clean swipe the money from your bank account.

One of the many complainants who recently got scammed in a similar fashion is Dipanjan Deb, a doctor of homeopathy in Jogabai Extension. “I received a call one day and assumed it was legit since I had lost my wallet just a day prior and had indeed reported for it. So I gave away the OTP number for processing of the application. Little did I know that it would take away ₹70,000 from my account! I had no option then but to block my ATM card thereafter and report the case.”

While Deb was duped, Jayesh Mehrotra, a businessman based in Shakti Vihar, acted smartly. “I recently got a call at around 10pm, one day, and the man on the other end said he’s calling from Delhi Police. I was baffled,” recalls Mehrotra, who was about to hit the bed at that moment and had the faintest idea about what he was about to face: “The caller told me that my brother has met with an accident, and was taken to a private hospital near the site of the mishap for treatment. He then went on to ask me to make a payment on the QR code that he’d be sending via message since money was required for my brother’s treatment. Of course anyone hearing such news would panic, and so did I. But while I was worried about my brother’s safety and almost on the verge of heading to the hospital, it struck me that my brother was not in town that day since he had travelled to Patna (Bihar), for some work. I immediately called on my brother’s number to find that he was safe. Then, I immediately blocked the number from where I had got the previous call and thereafter didn’t receive any message. Thank God I didn’t make the payment.”

As soon as the matter came into notice, Delhi Police uploaded an advisory on their Twitter handle to make people cautious and requested them to report such calls. Vijay Pal, SHO, Cyber Police Station New Delhi, tells us, “We are getting calls from at least eight people every day, who are complaining that Delhi Police has scammed them. In most of the calls, the complainants mentioned that the person who called them claimed to be the Superintendent of Police in Rohini. In reality we haven’t appointed anyone in that position. This is why we are advising people to be aware of such calls and stay safe.”

In fact, such scam calls are not just limited to Delhi-NCR but also being received by residents in other cities. One of the recipients, Anjali Singh, an HR executive in Bengaluru, informs: “I got an automated call saying I have some important document to collect from Delhi Police station. Then it got connected to someone who claimed to be the SP of a Delhi Police station in Rohini, and that man said my ATM card has been found used in some money laundering case, which is with CBI, and they want to make a video call to share some evidences they have found against me. When said that I’d prefer to go directly to the CBI office in Bengaluru or to the nearby police station, the man on the phone started screaming and said that police will reach my place in 30 minutes and hung up the call. Had it been an elderly person in my place, they could have felt intimidated and given in.”

How to identify scam calls/messages:

Look for grammar and spelling mistakes in messages.

Beware of urgent or fear-inducing messages or calls.

Check senders’ details for inconsistencies. Make sure the message received is from the same code as your bank, which is often used for making a voluntary transaction.

Avoid opening suspicious links and attachments.

Verify source of call from your network provider.

- Inputs by Vasu Maurya, cyber security expert

How to avoid and report:

Call the Delhi Police Cyber Cell 24X7 helpline number 1930.

Write to Delhi Police at www.cybercrime.gov.in and provide details of the complaint

Visit your nearest police station and mention the time, date, number from which you’ve been contacted and the nature of demand that was put forth by the caller.

Be cautious of requests for personal information like OTP, ATM pin, CVV/last four digits of your card, residential address, etc.

Author tweets @maishascribbles

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