Red alert: Don’t dial *401# after receiving malicious calls, DoT warns users

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications has warned the public not to fall into the traps of cyber fraudsters. In its latest advisory, the Department has advised citizens to remain alert on receiving malicious incoming calls asking them to dial *401# followed by some unknown mobile number.

As per a PIB report, this activates unconditional call forwarding received on the mobile of the citizen to the unknown mobile number. This allows fraudsters to receive all incoming calls and can be used for fraud.

How Fraudsters Target Victims

Pretending to be a customer service representative or technical support staff from the telecom service provider, the fraudsters call the telecom subscriber.

The fraudster cites that there is a problem with their SIM card or there is some issue related to network or service quality and the subscriber needs to dial a specific code to fix the problem. This code usually starts with *401# followed by a mobile number.

After doing so, unconditional call forwarding is activated on their mobile number and all incoming calls etc. are forwarded to the fraudster's mobile number.

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