Kolkata: The Kolkata Police cyber cell warned residents against calls from unknown and suspicious international numbers with the help of which cyber crooks trick receivers into activating ‘call forwarding' through USSD codes and then take over their banking and messaging accounts.
"During the call, or through an SMS, the victim is instructed to dial an USSD code, mostly beginning with ‘21', followed by a mobile number, controlled by the scammer," said a DCP. "We advise caution when prompts involving codes starting with ‘67' and ‘61' are made."
Police said several attempts were reported this Dec.
The alert was issued jointly with the National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit, and a similar advisory was circulated by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), citing misuse of basic telecom features that can bypass safeguards without internet access.
Police urged citizens not to dial a USSD code on being told by unknown callers, particularly those starting with 21, 67, or 61. Users who suspect call forwarding is enabled can cancel it by dialling "##002#".