Fake Bank Customer Care Number Scam through an app

How it looks through an app, the red flags and what to do.

Scam apps pretend to be a bank, a loan service, a game, a government service or a "support tool", and they ask for access to SMS, contacts, the screen or accessibility. Fake Bank Customer Care Number Scam is one of the ways this shows up: A planted number in search results or maps poses as bank customer care. Calling it gets you a scammer who wants your OTP or an app install.

What fake bank customer care number scam looks like through an app

• An .apk file sent on WhatsApp or by SMS.
• An app outside the official store that asks for many permissions.
• A screen-sharing or remote-control app that a caller asks you to install.

The scammer fills the web with bank helpline listings, using fake pages, map entries and replies under complaint posts. When you search in a rush, the false number can sit among real results and look equally official. Some people also find the numbers in comments on social media by users who are really scammers pretending to help.

Red flags to check on the app

• You found the number in a search result, map or social comment.
• The agent asks for a code sent to your phone during the call.
• You are asked to install a support app.
• A link is sent for a refund.
• The app does not come from the official store listing of the company.
• It asks for accessibility, screen overlay, SMS or contacts without a clear reason.

What to do

1. Hang up and call the number printed on your card, passbook or bill.
2. Use the support option inside your bank's official app.
3. Never share a code or install an app during a support call.
4. Open Settings and check Accessibility, Device admin apps and Install unknown apps for anything you do not recognise.
5. Change the passwords of your bank and email from a clean device if the app had access.
6. Run a phone scan (Safeavio Sentinel lists risky apps and settings).

Report the fake app to the store it came from and, if money moved, call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Call your bank on the number on your card and block cards, net banking and UPI.
2. Call 1930 and give the transaction details and the number you called.
3. Uninstall any app installed at the caller's request and change passwords.
4. Report at https://cybercrime.gov.in with call logs and screenshots.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Safeavio's Money Shield suggests that you verify before you pay and that you use only numbers printed on your card or in the official app. The scam check can review messages or links the 'agent' sends you. It cannot tell whether a phone number you found online is genuine, so avoid searching for helpline numbers at all. Use your card's number.

Full guide: Fake Bank Customer Care Number Scam: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: phone call, social media.

Questions