The
government of
india has alerted
mobile users about a new method of cheating related to eSIM. This cyber fraud is so dangerous that in this the thugs can steal money from the victim's
bank account without entering OTP or ATM details. Recently, using this technique, Rs 4 lakh was withdrawn from a person's account. After this, the
indian Cybercrime Coordination Center (I4C) has advised
people to be cautious.
How does an eSIM scam happen?
According to I4C, the thugs first call a user and send a fake eSIM activation link. As soon as the victim clicks on that link, his physical SIM automatically turns into an eSIM. Due to this, the real SIM of the
phone stops working and the network signals disappear.
After this process, the victim stops receiving calls and SMS while all messages and
banking OTP start going to the fraudster's eSIM. In this way, they start
bank transactions without any hassle and withdraw money from the account.
How to keep yourself safe?
I4C has given some important tips to
people to avoid this fraud:
Never trust calls from unknown numbers or suspicious links.
Do eSIM conversion only through official channels (telecom company's app or website).
If the network signal suddenly disappears in the
phone, immediately contact your
bank and
mobile service provider.
Why has this concern increased?
I4C, created in
january 2020 under the
home Ministry, aims to curb cyber crimes. Amidst the ever-increasing
wallet PLATFORM' target='_blank' title='digital-Latest Updates, Photos, Videos are a click away, CLICK NOW'>digital transactions and the number of smartphone users, cases of such fraud are also increasing rapidly. This is the reason why the
government has issued a warning about this new eSIM scam.