SIM Swap, Deep Fake and other trending Frauds and Scams

CA. Kannan Sundar Rajan

With the advent of Digital technology on a large scale and our mounting dependence on them, we are open to hackers and fraudsters waiting at our door step to prowl on our finances. It is the responsibility of each one of us to alert and comfort all those who are likely to be victims of such frauds.

Recently a successful businessman from South Delhi lost a whopping 50 Lakhs to fraudsters from his personal bank account after receiving multiple missed calls in his registered mobile phone and later came to know that he was victimized to the latest financial fraud named SIM SWAP SCAM through smartphones.

Initially your Mobile will go blind with No bars. While you are wondering as to the cause of this, the phone will be active instantly followed by a call from an unknown person introducing himself as from your mobile phone operator and will volunteer to help you and will ask you to Press 1 to carry out the service, knowing very well your innocence to have the phone back to life. This is the moment that you are likely to face financial losses. You are hereby alerted “Not to press 1 or any stab but to END the Call and Stay quiet”. If you press 1 the network will work suddenly and almost immediately go blind with zero bars and by that you can understand that your phone is HACKED.Within a second your bank account will be emptied and you won’t receive any alert. You will soon realize that your line is without network, meanwhile your SIM has been SWAPPED and the danger here is that you will not receive any alert of any transaction at your bank account.

Here the victims end up with financial loss in their bank account after receiving repeated miss calls on their registered and linked mobile numbers. Initially the fraudsters take personal details such as phone numbers, bank account details and addresses with the help of phishing or vishing in which the scamsters send malware links to victims through mail or messages. Once the link is opened the malware steals all of the victim’s personal information.

Next they approach your telecom provider and impersonate with your Aadhar card freely available in the Net and raise a fake request for a SIM Card with your number and collect the same stating that your original SIM has been stolen/lost. At this stage you are totally unaware that someone is using your SIM card, while the Telecom Company does not deactivate the Original SIM Card which is held by you and accordingly your mobile number has a duplicate usage by the fraudster without your knowledge. Notably, scamsters can get a duplicate SIM even when the original is working as they reported a loss or theft of the original sim card and all the activation messages and details go to the scamster and not the victim.

You will start receiving miss calls in your number and even if you happened to attend any of these calls, there will be No response from the caller and the call will be disconnected instantly without raising any doubt on the nature of the call. Here it is understood that the fraudster gives miss calls just to test your innocence and that your SIM is still active and is connected with your bank account. Also the victims are naturally get irritated by the repeated miss calls and switch off their mobile out of frustration. But your duplicate SIM with the fraudster will be still active and will be receiving the OTP and other communication supporting the transactions. By the time we switch on the phone and check any SMS from our bank it will be too late. It is for us to learn that Not to Switch Off our Phones at times like this.

Unlike other scams, where scamsters trick people into giving OTPs and private information on a phone call, SIM swap scam doesn’t require direct communication with the victims. However, fraudsters do give missed calls to their victims so that the latter leave their phones and ignore the lost network connectivity.

Having Swapped the SIM of the victims these fraudsters gain complete control of the SIM and start making transactions as they only will be receiving the OTPs or other authentication. Even most of the victims are not checking their mails regularly and by pass any financial transactions as alerted by banks. We might be wondering as to why it may not be possible to recover the funds back to the victim’s account, while it may take more time but the fraudsters convert the confiscated money into digital currency like Crypto coins or Bitcoins which will prove more difficult for the authorities to trace it back to the victims.

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Next in line is Online Air Intelligence(AI) Fraud, where Economic fraudsters have developed a new technique in which you will receive a video call from your known individual citing financial emergency. This known individual can be your wife, husband, father, brother or a close friend. But in fact it’s a type of online fraud in which the fraudster uses “Deep Fake AI bot” technique via Air Intelligence to con you. In this type of fraud the fraudsters rely on Deep Fake technique using Air Intelligence technology. The victims will be forced to believe the call as it is from their near and dear ones or a close friend and part with their wealth assuming that the money will be returned in time, but in reality it is a fake video call and a one-way financial transaction. So, one has to remain vigilant and use one’s IQ when a known individual calls from an unknown number using a tech based video call.

AEPS Scam or Aadhar enabled payment system Scam that came to light by last week of October 2023 as Karnataka Police have busted a gang from Bihar who have misused Property Documents uploaded in the Property Registration Portal of the State Government. The Fraudulent operation involved in this Scam came to light through complaints received from property owners of Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Chikkamagaluru and other parts of the state who were shocked to find money siphoned off from their bank accounts soon after property registration was over. The modus operandi of these scamsters were found to be that they download the documents freely available in the registration portal that includes Thumb impressions, finger prints and bio metric authentication. These prints were replicated and developed on a material made of plastic. These finger prints along with Aadhar numbers were used to withdraw money from Point of Sale(POS) machines. This way the fraudsters have withdrawn millions of money from victims account, even though Police have arrested the criminals, but still it is lesson for us as well for the Banks for enabling payments through Aadhar Cards especially in the rural areas of India.

Online Electricity Bill Scam – A pervasive online electricity bill scam is on the rise. Scammers are duping individuals across the country. Fraudsters are sending phony messages that pose as official electricity departments and threaten with power disconnection over unpaid bills and trick people into paying through a false link.An elderly woman in T.Nagar, Chennai was the latest victim on this count as reported by TOI on 5^th Nov’23 where  she was conned for Rs.12,998/-. To stay safe from these scams, ignore unsolicited messages about unpaid bills.

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In view of fraudsters and scamsters freely moving around, let us check and stay safe from these types of frauds:

Loan Scams – Scamsters in the guise of Bank Staff, approach victims having outstanding Loan repayable to Banks with promise for foreclosure of the Loan Accounts with a service fee payable to their personal accounts.

Credit Card Scams – Credit Card frauds typically occurs when hackers fraudulently acquire people’s credit or debit card details in an attempt to steal money or to buy goods using the card details.

Business Fraud – If you own a small business you can be targeted by hackers who will impersonate you and will fraudulently approach your customers

Identity Theft – When someone steals your personal identity like your name, Aadhar number or social security number or credit card number to commit fraud and thereby implicate you with legal authorities.

Phishing – Here a scammer impersonates a business or a person to trick them into giving out personal information such as passwords, credit card numbers, or bank account information.

Mail Frauds – Scamsters approach victims through letters or mails with fake promise to provide services for low cost but request for an upfront fee only to abscond later.

Emergency Scams – Here the fraudsters will approach the victims with some fictitious news like an accident for any of his/her close relative or an urgent medical need for them and request them for help in a non-existent emergency.

Authorized Push Payment Fraud – When you are likely to make a payment for an online purchase scammer will intercept the genuine email of the company with whom you are in communication and sends you a message asking for the payment and will escapes, the moment the payment is made.

Imposter Scams – Scammers will impost as someone close to you or one you trust so that you can make payment to him.

Computer Malware – When you approach a tech specialist for a support service of your Computer Systems, may have to end up with fixing or downloading malicious software or computer programs and thereby getting hacked by them. 

Online Auction Scams – Con artists can pose as either buyers or fake sellers and deal with you to part with the goods pretending to buy from you and assuring to make payment either by a fake cheque or other means and the moment they collect the goods, they will abscond by some means.

Advance Fee Fraud – Also called upfront fee fraud where fraudsters collect a fee or sum of money as advance for services which may or may not happen as also by promising some kind of fictitious benefit.

Charity Scams – These involve scammers collecting money by pretending to work for a fictitious cause or charity or even collect food or non-food items.

Lottery Fee Fraud – Fraudsters typically craft emails or SMS messages that look sound and believable and approach the victims stating that they have won a big Lottery or sweepstakes and demand paltry sum as advance for processing their prize money.

Romance Fraud – Fun loving young individuals or those who are depressed in life, fall victims in this category. Scammers create fake profile on legitimate dating and romance sites and befriend the victims either online or  mobile apps and demand sizable fee in advance for comforting them and go into oblivion the moment such payment is made.

How can one protect themselves from Fraud

1. Should be vigilant of vishing or phishing attacks
2. Must not neglect messages or switch off their phones after receiving multiple missed calls. They should enquire with the mobile operator immediately if such an activity takes place on the phone.
3. One should change bank account password regularly.
4. Should register for regular SMS messages as well as e-mail alerts for their banking transactions.

In case of fraud, one must immediately get in touch with banking authorities to have their account blocked and avoid further frauds, while your case will be handled by Cyber Crime. All the Best.