Kolkata: Sudden call from an unknown number. Loknath finally picked up the phone even though he thought he wouldn’t pick it up. Someone on the other end said, ‘I’m talking about your school friend… you don’t recognize him! Of course not. Someone from our class called just now. I got your number from him.’ Before he could finish speaking, another call came into Loknathbabu’s phone.

That too from an unknown number. The first caller ordered— ‘Merge. You’ll understand who’s calling!’

As soon as Loknathbabu ‘merged’ the call in the hope of a ‘surprise’ from a friend from school, a four-digit number rang in his ears. Immediately, 74 thousand taka was ‘debited’ from his bank account!

Cyber ​​criminals are finding a novel trap to snatch people’s hard-earned money using the bait of conference calls. The investigators are worried after seeing the barrage of complaints one after another. Panic has spread among the customers as well. How is this kind of fraud possible? Cyber ​​experts say that bank-related OTPs usually come to mobile phones in two ways. First, a four-digit OTP enters the phone through a message.

This OTP can also be known through phone calls. Fraudsters are somehow collecting the customer’s bank account number in advance. Then they are using the second method to ‘steal’ the OTP. When the customer ‘receives’ a call from an unknown number, it is said, ‘Your friend has given the number. He will call you immediately.’ Immediately after saying this, a call is coming from a second number to the customer. Then the call is being asked to ‘merge’ the call. This second caller is actually an automated phone call from the bank authorities. If that phone is merged, the bank is informed of the transaction-related OTP that has been specified by the fraudsters in advance. The fraudster and the customer are able to know the OTP together. After that, the phone is being disconnected. Before the customer realizes anything, the OTP is being used. Thousands of rupees are disappearing in an instant. According to state and Kolkata police sources, multiple complaints are coming in. The police are sending a message of awareness about this.