The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is already coming up with stricter measures for scammers and working to raise awareness of the growing number of scam calls and messages. In the latest post, the government body has shared a few tips on what an individual should do in case they get spam calls. This post includes details about how and where the users can report fake or spam calls.
In case you are getting fake calls from scammers posing as the Income Tax Department employee, bank employee, LIC employee, police, or any other authroity, DoT has advised users to take the following steps:
1. File a police complaint immediately.
2. Call 1930 to report the incident.
3. Visit the Sanchar Saathi portal at sancharsaathi.gov.in to report investment scams, fake calls, and other fraudulent activities.
READ: Credit card scam: How a gang used fake calls to steal from over 50 users
According to DoT, users should keep the below-listed things in mind to be safe from scams and fraud.
1. Never share sensitive information over the phone unless you are absolutely sure of the caller’s identity.
2. Hang up immediately if you receive a suspicious call from someone claiming to be from a government agency or financial institution.
3. Verify the caller’s identity by contacting the organization directly through official phone numbers or websites.
4. Block the number of any fraudulent caller, and report the incident to the authorities.
Meanwhile, for the next three months, the DoT has ordered that major telecom providers like Vodafone Idea, Airtel, and Reliance Jio broadcast cybercrime awareness messages eight to ten times a day. The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) has released these caller tunes to inform people about the rising number of digital arrest scams, in which con artists pose as law enforcement and demand money.