[car_addict]

Originally Posted by GTO

I simply cannot understand why WhatsApp won't give you a "privacy" option of only allowing calls from your contacts. This is really stupid. That being said, for a massive platform, WhatsApp has done a commendable job until end-2022 of filtering out spam. I hope they nip these new problems in the bud.

Whatsapp has such a feature since 2023 - https://faq.whatsapp.com/1238612517047244


How to silence unknown callers

Anyone who has your phone number can call you on WhatsApp. But you can block a known phone number or choose to silence calls from unknown callers by changing your privacy settings.


Silencing calls from unknown callers means you can focus on conversations that matter to you, while preserving your privacy and preventing unwanted contact.


An unknown caller could be someone you haven’t contacted or saved as a contact before.


Silence unknown callers

• On Android and iOS:
• Tap Settings > Privacy.
• Tap Calls.
• Move the toggle to the on or off position.

You’ll still see silenced calls from unknown callers in the Calls tab and in Notifications, but your phone won’t ring.
You can call an unknown caller back from within the Calls tab.


Alternatively, tap the Silenced unknown caller message within a chat.
Note: If you call or message the silenced caller, you won’t be able to silence their calls in future.


You can stop receiving calls from other WhatsApp users by blocking them.

[hkanitkar]

So the scammers came calling yesterday !

Received a whatsapp(!!) call from +919506907541 around 8.00PM yesterday, stating he is a Sub Inspector Amaresh Gowda from DB Pura Bangalore.
They apparently had found my number in a White Innova car stopped for a 'Drugs related investigation' at DB Pura check post. On telling him that I reside in Pune, and havent been to Bangalore in the last 5 years, he asked me to share my whatsapp screen to verify my location !
I refused outright and asked him to send the verification request through Pune Police since it is a legit Investigation. Then came the twist asking me to share my google credentials to check my Google Maps location !

I again told him to route the verification through Pune police, and asked him his badge number and other credentials. Immediately the call was disconnected. I called back twice to give him a mindful in choicest marathi, hindi as well as english language, but he wont answer ! :(

Me and wifey had a good laugh about it, but I am seriously thinking of reporting it to the Cyber-cell, as any Elderly or Technologically improficient person would easily fall for this type of call and share the details as asked, only to lose money ! Another matter of concern is that he also had my correct address !

Whatsapp has been my favourite messaging app inspite of the loopholes it has, just because it has made a lot of things in everyone's life easier. My only grouch with it, is not being able to record the 'whatsapp calls' in any way ! I hope they do offer this feature in near future !

[MyLife_MyCar]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

Opt out of pesky calls, then don't come to us for products: Sanjiv Bajaj

Originally Posted by Eddy

I don't think you will be the first one to opt out though, I will beat you to it

Do let us know who won!
Anyway, thanks for sharing this. Just to check if this option to opt-out is really there, I visited their website. Indeed, it's there. I felt that I have hit a jackpot.


In a flash I tap on the option and Lo! They want me to register/sign-in first!


Okay, help me to get this right - first register or sign in by giving my number and then do whatever the steps need to be done! Why not simply an option where I enter my number and click "forget me for good" button!

No thanks, I have never created an account with them and get calls only twice or thrice in a quarter. I don't want to take a chance to create an account and have a permanent record of my number in their database (although they might have it already).

Anyone who has tried this already? Do you see a positive outcome?

[antz.bin]

So a new scam that happened to me a few days ago.

I was having my dinner when my wife received a call from ICICI Bank Support (As per Truecaller, blue background)



Since we were having dinner and were not doing anything at ICICI bank and I noticed that the call is from a +1 number, I cancelled the first 2 calls. But then the call came in again a 3rd time so I answered the phone.



The voice on the other side told me that there has been an unauthorized transaction attempt on my ICICI account. It told me to press 1 if I am not making any transactions.

I pressed 1.

Then the voice told me to enter the OTP I have just received to cancel the transaction. My antennae were up so I opened the message with the OTP and read it fully.



As we can see, had I given the OTP, it would have led to a cardless EMI of Rs.40795 on my account. Anyways, I read the message and cut the call fully understanding what it was. But the voice was convincing enough that a casual/naive user could have entered the OTP. Many would be already falling prey to this scam so I had to share it here.

I received 2 such messages and many more calls.



Finally, to make the calls stop, I had to block the number from the dialer.

The scam seems to be conducted using an international calling platform like Twilio to set up the IVR and the transaction flow. The question here is, why me?

After this happened, I called ICICI customer care talk to them about it and uncovered it fully. Since this was a cardless emi, all this needs is a bank account with a linked phone number to initiate the transaction. No card details or account details required. Such a scam is incredibly easy to execute since the only information you need is the phone number and bank name! ICICI bank has high AQB requirements so most ICICI accounts will have at least 50k balance. 40k is a good amount for this scam. Great ROI!!

Even if someone is super-careful and doesn't use debit card and cancels Aadhar payments etc, the person can still fall prey to this scam.

[JithinR]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

...

As we can see, had I given the OTP, it would have led to a cardless EMI of Rs.40795 on my account. Anyways, I read the message and cut the call fully understanding what it was. But the voice was convincing enough that a casual/naive user could have entered the OTP. Many would be already falling prey to this scam so I had to share it here.


Even if someone is super-careful and doesn't use debit card and cancels ...Aadhar payments etc, the person can still fall prey to this scam.

Never heard of this one before. Thanks for posting about it. However, the ICICI page that I could find on cardless EMI mentions that PAN Number and OTP would be required.

Does this mean that these guys already have your(and many others) PAN number?

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by JithinR

Never heard of this one before. Thanks for posting about it. However, the ICICI page that I could find on cardless EMI mentions that PAN Number and OTP would be required.

Does this mean that these guys already have your(and many others) PAN number?

Well, I don't know how to do a cardless EMI at all. Never done it, never want to try it if it is so risky. I asked ICICI Bank to disable the feature for my account but to no avail. All the executive told me was to not share the OTP and there will be no cardless EMI. Not an answer I was okay with but it is what it is.

This is a major issue and if the PAN details have been leaked (which presumably they have) I can do absolutely nothing about it since it is the *Permanent* Account Number. Like Aadhar, I don't think it can be changed.

[TDIRaghav]

I received a call from a person claiming to be from Kotak bank and truecaller also confirmed it to be someone from Kotak bank. This person said that I have an outstanding balance on a personal loan for the past 3 years. This person introduced himself and was courteous. I never took a personal loan so I knew it is a scam but I wasn’t sure if somebody impersonated and took a loan in my name as I had not been using the Kotak bank account for almost 3 years.

I let him know that I never took a loan and asked him to call me back in 15 minutes. In the meantime, I called Kotak customer support and got a confirmation there isn’t any loan linked to my account. Got a call back from that person, calmly mentioned that bank doesn’t have any record of this loan so he said he will check again and never called back.

[Slowjet]

I am wondering on KYC. I do understand VOIP can't be traced but these normal mobile phone numbers should be traceable if KYC is done properly, which is usually not the case. Aren't telecom companies liable for this?

[clix22]

Ok, Here is a new one for you all.
My caretaker got a call from the post office to come and collect a speed post in his daughter's name ( 3rd std student). He goes across and its an id card with 500/- payable as COD.
He has not filled any request for an ID card and his kids go to the local schools a 10 min walk away. I asked him to send me a photo of the same, Its just a plastic laminated card with the kid's name, photo, dob and address on it - all the information that the school has.
It was sent by some organisation in Mysore, no contact details mentioned or available online. If he had not been alert, would have been out of pocket by 500/-

[professortarzan]

A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from a number claiming to be from 'Telecom Department'. Apparently, someone has registered an FIR against a (different) mobile number, which has been registered somewhere in Mumbai using my address proof. Because of this, all the numbers linked to me would be disconnected within 2 hours, cue number one.

On protesting that the other number doesn't belong to me, the lady has transferred the call to a 'superior. This guy tells me that my Aadhaar has been used as a proof, and asks if I have given it as part of any submissions/bookings/hotels, which I obviously did. I was a little concerned at first, but I slowly realized the absurdity of this conversation. Why would TRAI even bother to call me about disconnecting my connections, they will probably direct the operator. And if there is indeed a legal aspect, I should have received appropriate notice in writing. The guy goes on to say that he will forward my call to the corresponding police station, cue number two.

I was slightly worried at first, to be honest. Stealing identity is not a big deal in our country. But after gathering my senses, I took him for a ride. I protested innocence, kept asking for a details, repeated questions to the point that he got frustrated and blurted out expletives. I returned the pleasantries and he disconnected the call.

The call went on for nearly 20 minutes and it was on a weekend. I didn't lose anything but I wasted 20 minutes of their time that could have scammed some innocent person.

[Bsimhan]

Happened to me last week. I got a parcel addressed to my Brother in Law with his correct mobile number. The parcel was payable on delivery and the amount was a meager Rs 600. My brother in law was abroad at that time and I thought he might have genuinely ordered it. I asked for the sender's name and it was blank on the parcel. Of course, I refused delivery and the courier went on his way. I later learnt that my BIL had not ordered anything. Looks like a new scam to send some papers via courier and demand payment. Now I've alerted all my contact not to accept any items on payable basis unless I specifically call them regarding this. Rgds, Balaji

[saket77]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

Height of arrogance.
Bajaj is not a NGO doing charity, they give loans with interest. These are no freebies. I will be first to opt out of their pesky calls from Bajaj and never use them.

Opt out of pesky calls, then don't come to us for products: Sanjiv Bajaj

Ok, I will take the pesky calls. Hope they are providing finance with an option of not returning the money to match with it. What an arrogant fool this guy is.

Banks are providing bigger loans in lakhs (eg. housing loans) but they never call so much compared to Bajaj who bombard anyone with calls buying an airconditioner @ 4 month EMI of 6K rupees.

[AudiFan]

I had a strange experience recently, 12 Feb 2024, in fact it was my daugter who was targetted by the scamsters.
One Mr. Vishal Jain called my daughter claiming to be an employee of Maxlife insurance company, he called from 8745869256 and told my daughter that while buying a policy from Maxlife few years ago, she had authorised her agent to withdraw Rs. 1.2 lacs from her investment and the same shall be transferred to the said agent whose name he gave as MANISH BHARADWAJ and shared his mobile number 93116 23920. She was told to call this so called Agent and block the pay-out!!!.
Luckily my duaghter sensed mischief and stopped sharing any details beyond her DOB. She panicked and called me to say that the caller had her policy details like number and EMI amount.
I called the number claimed to be of MANISH BHARADWAJ told him that I am the father of the policy holder he had called and asked him what he is trying to do, he did not object to the fact that I am not the policy holder but wanted me to state the policy number, his spoken english sounded proper, I encouraged him to speak in Hindi and his slang was a dead give away. I refused to give him policy number and cut the call. I immediately called a friend of mine who heads Bangalore HNI division of Axis Bank, as the policy itself was bought through Axis Bank. He immediately recognised the MO and told me that a relative of his was also targetted on the same lines. He connected me to a senior exec of Maxlife and he confirmed that there wont be any damage as long as a OTP was not shared with the caller, and further he would add my duaghter's number to their DnD list.
I wonder how creative and knowledgeable these scamsters are and dread the fact that they will very soon have another major tool to help them ply their trade more efficiently- AI.
We should start thinking about a robust AI proof shield to protect our digital footprint!!

[swiftez]

My share of two major encounters till date.

BHARTI AXA policy revival scam

Like every other tele-caller for insurance company, got a call from some random person saying they are calling from BhartiAxa and mentioned the policy holder's name (my mom's name) and details. Not sure from where they stole her correct personal info.

The call went like "Sir we are calling from BhartiAxa and wanted to inform that your mom's policy has lapsed. It can either be revived or surrendered, as of now you have paid Rs. 2 lakhs, as the policy is lapsed you need to pay 50k premium to review else you might get only 5k in return. But if you pay 50k, the maturity payout will be 4 lakhs, please call Mr. Singh for further details on this number"

I didn't care to follow up and eventually got a call from Mr. Singh himself explaining the same thing. I said, let me check with the Axa office here in Chennai and sort it out sir, for which Mr. Singh said "Sir this is with head office and local office will not have any detail about your policy". The call got cut abruptly.

Out of curiosity took the incident with BhartiAxa via customer care and twitter, just to know that no such policy exists and no follow ups from Mr Singh either .

Simpl Payment Scam

Suddenly got a call from a landline number which I ignored couple of times. On the third time attended and kept it aside to faintly hear something like "press 1 if it wasn't you". Grabbed my phone and listened to the message again and it said "There has been an attempt to login into your simpl account, kindly press 1 if it wasn't you".

The call seemed to be legit and I did press 1. Nothing happend for over 5hours and I was happily working. Suddenly got 3 sms saying x amount has been paid to Ajmeer electricity board. It gave me a mini heart attack as the sum of those 3 transactions were almost close to my credit limit.

Escalated the issue to simpl customer care (after hours of fight with chatbot) and twitter. They enquired from their side about the transaction and after almost 5 days the amount got reversed with a condition that I should continue using simpl.

[saubi2299]

Recently, on a weekend, my father got a call from Max Life Insurance (don’t remember the exact name they used) and told that he had taken a policy few years back but stopped paying the annual premiums after sometime. They told that the NAV is now around 3.5 lakh and there are two options, to reactivate the policy or to close it and claim the amount. My father retired 6 years back and he gave the phone to me to understand the options.
They were very convincing and didn’t ask for any information from us. I was also under the impression that my father could have made some initial payments and forgot to follow up, and possibility of a scam never came to my mind.

However, they mentioned that to claim the said amount, I will have to first pay the premium amount for gap years and then the policy can be closed. They also gave the number of agent whom we should contact for this.

I told that we will think over what should be done and will call on that number. Then when I asked my father, he didn’t remember taking any such policy. I also felt that he doesn’t trust any insurance companies and avoids them, so it’s highly likely that he would forget it.

We chose not to chase this and after reading all the sophisticated scams here, I believe that this was an attempted scam.