Suddenly, someone calls you from an unknown number, giving the reference of an acquaintance (let's say his name is Partha). They inform you that there's an event, so they need your help. Upon hearing the familiar person's name, you also seem interested and start talking.
Not even thirty seconds pass, and that unknown person tells you again, 'Oh, Partha has called you from another number, please merge the call. Then all three of us can talk together.'
The proposal doesn't seem bad to you. Immediately, you connect the incoming call from outside. That is, you merge it. That's it! Within another minute, you realise your account has become almost empty. But how did such an incident occur without sharing any OTP or other information?
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What is the call merging scam?
This new type of method in the world of cybercrime is known as 'call merging scam'. How did this incident happen? It must be kept in mind that the fraudster who is deceiving you and me in this way already knows your bank account number beforehand. But due to the 'two-step authentication' system, the criminal cannot directly withdraw money from the account. At that time, he had to follow this technique.
How fraudsters use familiar names to trap victim
In this method, he makes a call and engages you on the phone by giving someone familiar's reference. By then, he has already opened his laptop and gotten ready to attack your bank account. What is called 'Partha's call' from the other end is actually a phone call from the bank to inform you of the OTP. Now, in many cases, even if the OTP doesn't come via text, that information is given through voice. As a result, as soon as the call is merged, the fraudster can clearly hear the OTP that is known through voice.
Before you can understand anything, as soon as that OTP is entered, your bank account opens up to the fraudster. And the criminal can also send instructions to the bank at will and withdraw money from there.
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Police authorities recently consulted cyber experts while investigating this case to understand how ordinary people's money is being withdrawn without OTP. It was then revealed that cyber fraudsters are finding out OTPs by taking advantage of voice calls in this way. After that, even if the phone gets disconnected on its own, there's nothing left to do. According to bank authorities, this method was implemented for the convenience of ordinary people. But cyber criminals are also misusing it.
Multiple such complaints have already been filed from different parts of the country. To stop this type of crime, experts are advising against accepting calls from unknown phone numbers. If such a call comes giving reference of an acquaintance, then the problem will be solved by directly calling that person first without talking. And if such an incident does occur, then it is necessary to immediately inform the police about the entire matter. Keep in mind, if the investigation doesn't start quickly, it won't be possible to catch the criminals.
