Bharti Airtel India’s biggest telecom operator has shared a letter warning more than 321 million subscribers against the rising cases of cyber frauds. According to Gopal Vittal, the CEO of Airtel India, customers are guided to install apps that are capable of tracking all accounts on their smartphone. Gopal also warned customers against digital payment frauds where subscriber’s one-time passwords and UPI details are accessed to make fraud payments. We are in an era where technology is evolving, but it seems that the number of cybercrimes is also increasing. Let’s have a closer look at the new letter released by Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal.
Bharti Airtel Warning for Cyber Crimes
Currently, India is going through the second wave of devastating COVID-19 and amid all this, the number of cybercrime cases has also seen a peak. According to the company, there is a massive surge in online transactions during the second wave of the pandemic. The letter suggests that the telco is working hard relentlessly and coming out with safety features to ensure customers safety.
Vittal also highlighted the modus operandi being adopted by fraudsters. He also mentioned the ongoing cyber frauds related to digital payments. According to Vittal, there has been a massive growth in online transactions and a parallel growth in the cases of cyber fraud. The letter is released to draw some attention to the kind of frauds that users might likely face. Further, he added that the telecom operator is working on a feature "that is geared towards conducting secure online transactions "without the fear of being duped by a fraudster".
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Vittal also confirmed that Airtel does not sell VIP numbers on the phone and will never ask you to download any third-party apps. If someone is calling you and telling you to download any app then immediately call 121 and inform. Subscriber should have to be cautious against fraud callers pretending to be Airtel employees, asking users to download the app for incomplete KYC form.
Fraudsters ask users to install the ''Airtel Quick Support'' app from the Google Play Store to allow them to help. But the fact is that there is no such app on the play store, when the customer tries to install it, they are redirected to TeamViewer Quick Support App.
This app will allow users to take access to the smartphone remotely and accounts associated with the device. Airtel customers are also receiving calls and text from the fraudsters offering VIP numbers. To get the number the users are asked to make a prepayment as a token/booking amount after receiving the amount the fraudster blocks all contacts with the person.
According to the CEO, Airtel has the safest way of making payments call Safe Pay, it comes with an additional layer of security for every transaction. Before making the payment the Airtel network intelligence throws up a message asking you to confirm the transaction to the person who is trying to pull the fraud. So if you activate this feature then you are less vulnerable to fraudsters.
