Hyderabad: Cybercrooks use fake SOS to swindle money

 Hyderabad: A city-based entrepreneur quickly mobilised funds and readied to transfer them to an NRI relative, who had sent him an SOS message. But, upon calling the relative to enquire which account the funds were to be transferred to, the entrepreneur realised he was a victim of cybercriminals, as was his relative, whose personal data was compromised.

The entrepreneur, however, is not alone, as several people in the city have received such SOS requests, with many only finding out the truth when it was too late.

The police said the SOS messages referred to an ongoing rice crisis in many countries to force the victims into quick action.

The police said that fraudsters have switched to this modus operandi after previously posing as celebrities, public figures or bureaucrats on WhatsApp to reach out to their contacts for money transfers. They also said such requests were being sent on social media platforms, citing health emergencies in most instances.

Citing emergencies like the Covid-19 waves, vaccination and other situations, the police said fraudsters come up with new ways to loot people every day.

B. Anuradha, DCP (cyber crime) of Rachakonda commissionerate, advised people to follow a thumb rule of dialling up relatives or even close family members upon receiving such a request.

“In many cases, people just transfer money without verification. We should understand any such SOS requests are fraud in majority cases,” she said.

While the police have not received any complaints, they advised the public to report such SOS calls or messages to the cyber crime wing or the nearest police station.

Experts pointed out that usually, fraudsters first send spam messages to targets, inviting them to click on harmful links, following which their mobile phone data is compromised, giving access to the fraudsters. With this, they start sending out SOS messages and duple people.

• Old crime, new packaging
• Fraudsters send spam messages to targets with harmful links
• Upon clicking, targets’ data is compromised, allowing fraudsters access to phones
• They identify close relatives and send out SOS alerts, requesting money
• Once the money is transferred, it is rerouted to their accounts from hacked phones
• “In many cases, people just transfer money without verification. We should understand any such SOS requests are fraud in majority cases”
• – B. Anuradha, DCP (cybercrime), Rachakonda