look news india
It is 10 in the morning and Ajay is ready to leave for work. He receives an alarming call from FedEx telling him that an illegal shipment in his name has been seized by law agencies. He then gets a follow up call, asking him to press 9 and contact customer service to correct the problem and remove his name from the status.
And this is where the scam takes shape, ready to attack any weakness of the person and force them to share personal details that can be misused. These scams have become a big issue for people and even law enforcement agencies. In fact, FedEx has shared an advisory to warn people about these scams, which the company was forced to do because its name was being used for nefarious reasons.
So, why is the scam happening, how is it happening and what is the fraudulent 'Press 9' offer that has everyone worried? We spoke to some cyber security experts to learn more about these attacks and how they take shape.
where it all starts
Scammers ask users to press the number '9' for further assistance and parcel details. On pressing '9', the call is connected to a representative who identifies himself as a Customs Department official. Ruchir sheds light on the scripting of these attacks, “It becomes very easy for these victims to fall into the trap because they think the real call is actually happening.”
In most cases, the situation created by the scammer is relevant to the person who may have delayed their IT return or may be checking out online deals and now getting a chance to win the lottery. As we said, these scams play with the fearful mindset of the individual and in some cases they become alert before they even realize that they are being scammed.
The advent of AI makes these scams harder to spot, especially if you hear a voice cloned person talking or just an AI voice system talking to you on the phone.
Millions of people do not know about these dangers
For most people in India, the phone was the first mobile device they used, rather than a computer. Rapid digitalization played its role in helping these scammers find easy targets. “There is a large generation that came to the Internet for the first time on a mobile device, bypassing PCs or laptops altogether. Ruchir Shukla, MD, Safehouse Tech India, said, due to this infection, people are less aware about the risks of the virus and the protection they need.
“This type of fraud typically tries to create a sense of urgency or employ intimidating tactics to get the victim to comply with the attacker's requests,” explains Lucas Stefanko, malware analyst at ESET.
The biggest weapon these scammers use to target their victims is data and its relevance. If they can get the details about your mobile operator or even the electricity board and somehow get the account details, then it becomes easier for them to investigate the victim and try to get more information from them. Enough so that they never feel like it was forced.
“Fraudsters often adopt tactics like fake notifications, urgent messages or tempting offers to induce users to download malicious apps,” said Harish Kumar GS, Head of Sales, India and SAARC, Check Point Software Technologies.
There's a very good reason why many of us get so many SMS and emails warning us about sharing our OTP with unknown callers, it actually forced FedEx to push this message on social media. This has been done to prevent them from becoming victims of these scams. Recent havoc.
“Some scammers also resort to call spoofing, using legitimate phone numbers to increase their credibility, and using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to obscure their real numbers and locations,” Stefanko. shared the information with a strong warning.
How do I not become a victim?
Now that we've heard experts talk about the source of these attacks, you can clearly see that the fault lies with the victim in many ways. And that's how they want us all to pay attention to such calls or attempts to hack your account and steal money.
It is important that people do not share personal information with callers. Banks, FedEx or even the government will never call you and ask for these details.
Getting a call from CID or police may make you nervous, but it is important that you do not let it affect your judgment, which can be misused by these scammers. Always check the details about the caller, the company they are from and even check their website to see if things match up.
Another important step to follow is to keep all the apps and software on your device up to date so that any security flaws cannot be exploited by these attackers.