New scam in Bangalore? Viral video reveals how fraudsters pretend to be couriers or delivery agents to…

Is there a new scam going on in Bangalore? A social media post has warned everyone about the potential hazard.

Bengaluru Post shared a 60-second awareness video.

“Ok Bengaluru, meanwhile, this may be happening in town. So better be cautious than being sorry later,” says the social media post while sharing the video.

The viral video shows a street scam where a woman borrows a man's phone in an emergency. However, instead of calling anyone, she dials a code on the mobile phone and pretends to call.

The code secretly enables “call forwarding” to another number. Now, every call and message intended for you is intercepted. Bank OTPs and other critical details go to the scammer’s number.

The video was created by the cyber education group The Fincredibles.

“This scam is spreading across India. Scammers pretend to be couriers, delivery agents, or even normal people asking for help. They ask you to dial a code. The moment you dial that code, it turns on call forwarding,” says the video.

“Every OTP verification call, WhatsApp call, Telegram verification code and every other bank verification call goes directly to the scammer,” the video continues.

“To turn it off, dial double hash, double zero two hash. Never dial any code starting from 21, 61 and 67 from any stranger. And, if this happens with you, report it immediately on 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in,” comes the advice.

The video has gone viral, garnering more than 2 lakh views on Twitter (now X).

On Google India, the interest for ‘Scam’ went higher from 27 January to 28 January:

“Next time just ask them for the number and dial it and turn on the speaker… without handing over the phone, you still end up helping them,” advised a social media user.

“If we get a genuine request, we won't know. One option is to ask the person for the number and dial yourself. I did this recently when a young girl asked me if she could use my phone,” posted another user.

Another user wrote, “Two attempts were made while I was in Chennai... Once in Adyar bus stand in front of Kotak Bank... and once in Central ... both female .. both - corrupt mobile, need to call --- deny both time!!”

“Yes, only the citizens should do all the work. Avoid scams, avoid falling in ditches, avoid traffic jams, avoid landslides, avoid criminals ! Govt and babus are only for drawing salaries! Wonderful!” came a sarcastic reply.

“Migrants just come to Bengaluru to do a scam,” came another reaction.

Another user posted, “Carelessness leads to accidents. Be it a bachelor who loses it by handing over the phone, or a married person who loses it without even giving it.”