Latest scam alerts in India

"Digital arrest" calls from fake police, CBI or customs

A caller claiming to be from the police, CBI, ED, an anti-terrorism squad, TRAI or customs says your Aadhaar, phone number or a parcel in your name is linked to money laundering, drugs or a terror investigation. They move you to a video call, show fake ID cards and a fake police station backdrop, and keep you on the line - now for days or weeks - while you transfer money to a 'safe account' to avoid arrest.

⚙️How it works

Fear and isolation. You are told you are under 'digital arrest' and must not hang up or tell anyone. There is no such thing as a digital arrest under Indian law. The pretext has been escalating: alongside the parcel and Aadhaar stories, callers now say your identity has come up in an investigation into a terror attack and present themselves as Anti-Terrorist Squad officers, because a national-security accusation makes arguing feel dangerous rather than merely expensive. The hold has also stretched. What used to be one frightening afternoon now runs for weeks of daily calls, with transfers extracted again and again over that whole period - one 89-year-old in Lucknow was kept under continuous control for 22 days and lost about Rs 16.09 lakh. Very old people living alone are the preferred target, because the isolation the scam depends on is easy to maintain. A newer opening comes from a 'Data Protection Department': in October 2026 a 65-year-old Mumbai advocate was told 20 complaints had been filed against him, then got a WhatsApp video call from a fake sub-inspector who said a bank account opened with his Aadhaar had received Rs 20 crore used by a banned organisation. Over the next days the 'officer' asked about his family's jobs, daily routines, when they come home and how much gold they own, then told him to move his cash and assets 'to the RBI' for checking. He sent Rs 10.20 lakh by RTGS before his daughter told him arrests do not happen this way. You can also be made to borrow. In a 2024 case, a 32-year-old Bengaluru woman said fraudsters posing as Mumbai police and an RBI official made her apply for an instant personal loan of Rs 50 lakh during the calls; it arrived within 15 minutes and they had her add three beneficiaries and send it to them. The loan stayed unpaid, and the bank began criminal proceedings after an instalment payment instruction for Rs 52.41 lakh bounced. On 16 October 2026 the Karnataka High Court refused to quash them, noting that OTPs went to

🚩Red flags

• A police, court, 'Data Protection Department' or other agency contacting you over WhatsApp or a video call
• Being told to stay on the call and not speak to family, a lawyer or your bank
• 'Police' from another city or state's crime branch call about a case you have never heard of
• The caller says your name or Aadhaar has surfaced in a terrorism, money-laundering or national-security investigation
• Questions about your family's routines, when they are out, or how much gold and cash you keep
• Any demand to transfer money to a 'safe', 'RBI' or 'verification' account, to apply for an instant loan during the call, or calls that go on day after day

✅What to do

• Hang up. No agency arrests anyone over a video call or asks for money to avoid arrest.
• Do not transfer anything, and never apply for a loan on a caller's instructions. Call a family member and your bank on their official numbers.
• Paying once never ends it - the callers come back for more. Stop, hang up and call 1930.
• Never tell a caller what gold or cash is kept at home or when family members are out.
• Tell one person - family, a neighbour, anyone - before you do anything the caller asked. Breaking the isolation is what ends this scam.
• Report the number on cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 (the national cyber-fraud helpline).
• If money already left your account, call 1930 immediately - the first hour matters most.
• If an elderly relative lives alone, tell them about this one by name; they are who the callers look for, and a long call they will not explain is the sign.

Official source: mypunepulse.com

Stock-tip groups and fake broker apps that block withdrawals

A Facebook ad or a WhatsApp group invite leads you to a fake broker's trading app that shows huge profits. Some ads use AI-made videos of people you recognise, and large withdrawals are blocked until you pay more.

⚙️How it works

PIB Fact Check debunked ads on 16 and 20 September 2026 carrying deepfake videos of the Finance Minister and the External Affairs Minister, offering figures like Rs 90,000 a day on an investment of Rs 22,000. Kerala Police warned on 22 September 2026 that the same ads use AI videos of well-known stock-market figures and company heads. You are added to a group where everyone else is part of the scam, then sent a link to an app that copies a real broker's. Small withdrawals are allowed early to win your trust, 'heavily discounted' shares pull in bigger deposits, and then withdrawals need 'processing charges', 'tax' or 'compliance' payments - which is the actual theft. In a case registered by Cyberabad cyber-crime police in November 2026, a 68-year-old retired engineer clicked a Facebook trading ad, joined a WhatsApp group using a brokerage's name, and was told to install the 'Eqr HNI' app from a link rather than the Play Store and to chat on Signal. He paid in Rs 1 lakh, withdrew Rs 72,000, and went on to send about Rs 1.29 crore while the app showed about Rs 15.22 crore. On 29 October 2026 he was told to pay a 15% commission of Rs 2.06 crore before withdrawing, and the operators refused to deduct it from his balance. Two more cases were registered in November 2026. A Kochi man working in Dubai lost Rs 2.11 crore to a forex and stock 'trading' scheme run through a Telegram group and a fake website; Ernakulam Rural cyber police registered the case. In Hyderabad a software employee who came in through Facebook lost Rs 33.62 lakh: the bogus app showed him over Rs 1.44 crore in profit and then demanded another Rs 28.83 lakh before he could withdraw it.

🚩Red flags

• A video of a minister, a famous investor or a broking-firm chief promising a fixed daily or monthly profit - these are AI fakes
• Guaranteed or 'assured' returns, 'block trades', 'IPO quota' or shares offered at a heavy discount
• A small withdrawal that works early on, followed by pressure to deposit much more
• A Telegram group gives you a login for a trading website, or an app shows profits many times what you paid in
• An app installed from a link in the group instead of the Play Store, or being moved to Signal to chat
• A withdrawal that needs a fee, tax or commission paid first, and a refusal to deduct it from your balance

✅What to do

• No minister, regulator or fund manager advertises an investment scheme promising daily profits - if the video says so, it is fake.
• Trade only through a SEBI-registered broker's own app; check the registration on sebi.gov.in.
• Leave the group and block the admin. Never install a trading app from a chat link or an ad.
• If the app asks for more money before you can withdraw, stop paying at once - the profits on screen are not real and the money will not come back by paying more.
• Report on cybercrime.gov.in or 1930 with screenshots of the group, the ad and the payment details.
• Warn relatives - these ads target retirees and salaried savers most.

Official source: onmanorama.com

Fake shop ad that takes your card and your one-time code

Adverts on social media promote big-name brands, tickets or everyday goods at prices far below anyone else. The checkout is a copy built to capture your card details and then the one-time code your bank sends, so the payment goes through for the criminals.

⚙️How it works

A paid advert, or a post that looks like an influencer's, sends you to a store page copying a well-known brand, or offering tickets, electronics or groceries at a fraction of the normal price. You enter your card number at a checkout that looks ordinary, sometimes framed as a free trial or a small 'verification' charge. The page then shows a realistic bank verification screen and asks for the one-time code just sent to your phone. Someone is watching in real time and passes that code straight to your bank, authorising a payment or taking over the account, after which the card is often billed again on a repeating schedule. Other versions simply take the money and send nothing, a cheap fake, or a tracking number that goes nowhere. In October 2026 police in more than one country warned of a surge of such adverts on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok selling household goods, food, fashion and festival-sale deals that lead to look-alike shop sites. In November 2026 Australia's National Anti-Scam Centre said buying and selling scams made up more than half of the scam reports there with a money loss this year, that it had taken down over 20,000 scam websites, many posing as shops, and that AI-made product pictures make fake shops harder to spot; people selling things were also sent links to 'verify' an account or 'receive' a payment that stole their logins. The US Federal Trade Commission warned the same month that scammers are paying for ads that impersonate well-known businesses and government agencies in social feeds, search results and shopping sites.

🚩Red flags

• The price is far below what the same item costs anywhere else, with a countdown or 'last few left'
• A paid ad or a polished website is not proof the shop is real - criminals buy ads and copy real addresses and business numbers
• The advert or post is the only way you ever heard of the shop, and the web address is a near-copy of a famous brand
• The shop's web address differs from the real store's by a letter or an extra word
• A free trial or a tiny 'verification' charge still asks for your full card number, expiry and security code
• After you pay, the page asks you to type the one-time code your bank just sent you
• The amount, currency or merchant name on your bank alert does not match what you thought you were buying
• As a seller, a 'buyer' sends a link to verify your account or receive the payment, or moves the chat to a messaging app

✅What to do

• Never type a one-time code into a web page or app that is not your own banking app or your bank's own site; a code handed over is a payment approved.
• Leave the advert and reach any brand by typing its address yourself or using the app you already had, then compare the price before buying.
• Pay by card or a payment service that offers buyer protection, never by bank transfer, crypto or gift card.
• Ask your bank to freeze the card and cancel any repeating payment the moment an unexpected charge appears, and keep the advert, order page and bank messages.
• Report it to your country's official cyber-crime or fraud reporting service (in India: call 1930 or use cybercrime.gov.in), and tell your bank at once if money or card details went out.

Official source: scamwatch.gov.au

'Rent out your bank account or SIM' offers that make you a money mule

Fraud gangs pay a commission for the use of your savings, current or company bank account and SIM card, then pass stolen money from investment and other scams through it. The account holder is the one the police trace first.

⚙️How it works

Recruiters approach students, small-business owners and job-seekers with 'easy income': hand over your account, cheque book, net-banking login and a SIM, or install an SMS-forwarding app, and earn a cut on every transfer. In a September 2026 Bengaluru case police traced 507 such accounts used to launder a fake trading-app fraud, with some holders paid Rs 1.5-2 lakh. Those who rent out their accounts are being arrested: in November 2026 Kerala police, in a statewide drive called Operation Cy-Hunt, arrested six people aged 20 to 43 in Vadakara (Kozhikode) who had handed their bank accounts to cyber fraudsters for a commission. About Rs 38.65 lakh of fraud money had passed through their accounts, and some of them had also drawn it out by cheque and at ATMs for the gang; cases were registered against 21 people in all.

🚩Red flags

• Someone offers money for 'using' your bank account, UPI ID or SIM
• A request to install an SMS-forwarding or unknown payment app
• Being asked to open a current or company account in your name for someone else
• Money arriving from strangers with instructions to forward it on
• Being asked to withdraw cash at an ATM or by cheque from your account and hand it to someone else

✅What to do

• Never lend, rent or sell your bank account, UPI ID, SIM or net-banking login - you are legally responsible for what passes through it.
• If you already did, stop, change your passwords, remove unknown apps and tell your bank at once.
• Report on 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in; reporting early protects you.

Official source: onmanorama.com

SIM-swap: fake 'eSIM / 5G upgrade' calls, or your SIM killed from your own operator account

Two routes to the same theft. A caller claiming to be from Jio, Airtel, Vi or BSNL offers a free 5G or eSIM upgrade, or warns your SIM will be blocked under a 'TRAI/DoT order', and asks you to forward an SMS or share an OTP. In the newer version nobody calls you at all: the fraudster logs into your own operator account, changes the alternate contact number and files a request to deactivate your SIM. Either way your number goes dead and every bank OTP goes with it.

⚙️How it works

In the call version the eSIM activation code is sent to your phone and the scammer needs you to read it out or forward it; once your number is theirs they reset banking and UPI passwords using the OTPs. In the account version the fraudster gets into the operator's app or self-care site, edits the alternate mobile number so the operator's own alerts go elsewhere, and submits a deactivation request - so the phone simply shows 'no service' and transaction OTPs never arrive. A companion case ran through a fake traffic-fine message and an APK install, after which call forwarding was switched on so verification calls were answered by the fraudster. Because the handset stays silent instead of filling with alerts, the theft is usually noticed only when a balance is checked. A SIM obtained in your name can also open your email, and through it your trading account: in a case reported in Mumbai in November 2026, the login code for an investor's demat account went to his email, the email was taken over with a fraudulently obtained SIM for his registered mobile number, and shares worth Rs 4.58 crore were sold without his consent and Rs 1.71 crore of penny stocks bought; cyber police froze Rs 2.86 crore of shares and arrested a suspect.

🚩Red flags

• Any request to forward a message, share an OTP or dial a code to 'upgrade' your SIM
• 'TRAI' or 'DoT' calling you personally about your number being blocked - they do not
• Your phone shows 'No service' or 'SIM not provisioned' for an hour or more while others on the same network nearby are fine
• A message or email from your operator saying the alternate contact number on your account was changed, or that a SIM deactivation or replacement request was received, when you asked for neither
• Bank or UPI transactions on your statement although no OTP ever reached your phone, or call forwarding switched on in your settings that you did not set
• A password-reset or new-login alert for your email, or a demat or trading login you did not make, around the time your SIM stops working

✅What to do

• Hang up. Upgrade or replace a SIM only inside the operator's official app or at a store.
• If your signal disappears for more than about an hour, call the operator from another phone and ask whether a deactivation request or an alternate-number change was logged on your account, and have both reversed.
• From a different device, freeze net-banking and UPI and check recent transactions before restoring the SIM; turn off any call forwarding you did not set.
• If you hold shares, also call your broker to block trading on your demat account, and change your email password from a safe device.
• Check which numbers are registered in your name at sancharsaathi.gov.in (TAFCOP) and report suspected fraud there (Chakshu).
• Report on cybercrime.gov.in or 1930 within the first hours, which is when a transfer can still be held.

Official source: freepressjournal.in

'Free movies', TV or adult app ads that take over your phone

Ads on Facebook and Instagram for adult-content apps, or for 'free movies, web series' or 'all TV channels free', lead to websites that ask you to install an APK outside the Play Store. Once installed, it is used to take over the phone and make bank transactions.

⚙️How it works

The first APK looks harmless. It then downloads a second package as an 'update' that requests Accessibility and other sensitive permissions. Once granted, it hides in the background, can stop you uninstalling it, may route your internet through the attacker's VPN, and reads OTPs to move money. I4C named apps such as Night Play, Reloop, Kyss, Vimo, Rivo, Nexo and Vixa. The same trick now uses free-entertainment bait: in Surat in October 2026 a 23-year-old student installed an app called 'HOT Wave' from an Instagram ad offering free movies and web series, and Rs 95,000 was taken from his bank account the next day; in Mangaluru a 45-year-old installed an app advertised on Facebook as giving free access to all TV channels and lost Rs 1.96 lakh in two Google Pay transfers.

🚩Red flags

• An ad promising free movies, web series, all TV channels or adult content if you install an app
• An ad that sends you to a website to download an APK instead of the Play Store
• An app or 'update' that asks for Accessibility permission
• An app you cannot uninstall from Settings
• A VPN you did not set up appearing on the phone

✅What to do

• Install apps only from the Play Store and keep Play Protect on.
• Never give Accessibility permission to an app you do not fully trust.
• If an app will not uninstall, switch on flight mode, boot into safe mode and remove it, then call your bank to block transactions.
• Report on 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in.

Official source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Fake customer-care numbers in search results and social posts

Searching for a bank, airline, IRCTC, courier or app helpline turns up a scammer's number in an ad, a Google Maps listing, a Twitter/X reply or a Facebook page. Many planted numbers do not even connect - the 'agent' rings you back, asks you to install a screen-sharing app and to pay a token fee of Rs 5 or Rs 10 to 'register' the complaint.

⚙️How it works

Scammers plant numbers wherever people look for help, including paid search results and map listings, and reply to public complaints within minutes. Kerala Police warned on 3 October 2026 that numbers planted this way often ring unanswered and the fraudster calls back posing as a support agent. The 'agent' then asks you to install a remote-access or screen-sharing app so they can 'see the problem', and to pay a tiny registration or verification fee - Rs 5 is the figure in the advisory - so the first payment feels harmless. That payment hands over your card or UPI credentials, and the screen-sharing app lets them watch you log in and drain the account. A newer twist moves the call-back to WhatsApp: in Bengaluru in November 2026 a 59-year-old doctor searched online for a taxi app's customer care number to claim a refund, the number rang unanswered, and a 'representative' then contacted her on WhatsApp and had her install an app called 'customer support 24x7' to process it - Rs 99,000 was taken from her account through PhonePe. Shops are copied too: in Pune a fake Google listing for the sweet shop Chitale Bandhu replaced its landline with a mobile number, took online payments for orders and never delivered.

🚩Red flags

• A helpline number from an ad, a comment, a Maps pin or a random website instead of the company's own app
• The number you found does not connect, and a 'support agent' calls you back or messages you on WhatsApp from a different number
• You are asked to install AnyDesk, TeamViewer, QuickSupport, RustDesk or any 'customer support' or screen-sharing app to get a refund
• A refund or complaint that needs you to pay first - Rs 5, Rs 10 or any 'registration' or 'verification' fee
• An 'agent' asking for card number, CVV, UPI PIN or OTP to process a refund

✅What to do

• Take helpline numbers only from the company's official app or website, the back of your card, or a bill.
• Real support never asks for a PIN, CVV or OTP, never asks you to install a screen-sharing app, and never charges a fee to register a complaint.
• If the 'agent' called you back, hang up and reach the company through its own app or your nearest branch.
• Post complaints on social media without your phone number; real companies reply from verified handles.
• Report fake listings to the platform and report any loss on cybercrime.gov.in or by calling 1930.

Official source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Fake loan apps using real NBFC names, then harassment

An ad or message offers an instant loan with no security, easy approval and low interest, through an app that carries the name and logo of a real RBI-registered NBFC. Once installed it takes your contacts, photos and bank details, then the gang threatens you and messages your contacts to extort money.

⚙️How it works

The app is the weapon: contacts and gallery access are all the gang needs to blackmail you. Kolkata Police warned on 6 November 2026 that many fake loan-app groups now copy the names, logos and details of real NBFCs registered with the RBI, so the app looks genuine. They push it through links in messages, social media and ads, especially in the festive season.

🚩Red flags

• A loan app asking for contacts, gallery or SMS access
• A real NBFC's name or logo on an app you reached through an ad, an SMS or a social-media link
• Loan tenure of 7-14 days with fees deducted upfront
• Installed from a link or APK, not from Google Play

✅What to do

• Before installing, check the lender on the RBI's official list of registered NBFCs, and make sure the app is that lender's own app. A copied logo proves nothing.
• Deny contacts, gallery and SMS permissions. A genuine lender does not need them.
• If you are being harassed, do not pay extra. Keep the messages, call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in, and complain on the RBI Sachet portal.
• Use Aegix Scan to find apps that can read your SMS or contacts, and uninstall the ones you do not trust.

Official source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

WhatsApp wedding card that is really an .apk app

A friend or relative's WhatsApp sends you a wedding invitation, but the file is an .apk app, not a card. Their phone is already hacked. Once you tap it, the malware reads your bank OTPs, empties your accounts and sends the same 'invitation' to everyone in your contacts.

⚙️How it works

The wedding season is the cover, and the message comes from a number you trust because that person's phone was taken over first. The file name and icon look like a card, a PDF or a photo, but Android asks to install it. In a Vadodara case reported on 5 November 2026, the file 'failed to open', so the victim thought nothing had happened. A week later he got 19 OTP messages in five minutes and about eight calls from an unknown number, and Rs 4.19 lakh was gone before he could block online transactions. Deleting the file afterwards did not help. In another Vadodara case reported on 30 October, a 64-year-old lost more than Rs 17 lakh from his and his wife's accounts in 39 transactions. He found out only when a friend said a wedding invitation had arrived from his WhatsApp.

🚩Red flags

• An 'invitation', card, PDF or photo whose file name ends in .apk
• Android asking to install something when you only wanted to view a file
• A 'card' that does not open, or opens nothing, after you tap it
• A burst of OTP messages you did not request, often together with calls from unknown numbers
• Friends telling you they got a wedding invitation from your number

✅What to do

• Never open an .apk sent in a chat, even from a friend. Real wedding cards come as photos or PDFs. Call the sender to check before you tap anything.
• If you tapped one, deleting the file is not enough. Switch on flight mode, remove any new app in Settings > Apps, run Aegix Scan, and call your bank to block online transactions.
• If OTPs you did not ask for start arriving, call your bank at once. Do not wait for the debit alerts.
• Warn your contacts not to open anything sent from your number, and report it by calling 1930 or at cybercrime.gov.in.

Official source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

'Update your life certificate' call, app or video call

A 'bank officer' calls a pensioner and offers to help with the annual life certificate. They send a 'Pension Life Certificate' link that is really an app file, or ask you to share your screen on a WhatsApp video call. Either way they take over the phone and empty savings and fixed deposits.

⚙️How it works

The life-certificate season is the cover: pensioners must submit the certificate every year to keep the pension coming, and this year's deadline is 30 November. In a Pune case on 24 October 2026, a 69-year-old retired bank officer clicked a social-media page that looked like his bank's. He then got a messaging-app call from a 'bank officer' who sent a link titled 'Pension Life Certificate Update Online'. It was an APK file, and once it was installed the fraudster took control of his phone and made three transfers totalling Rs 1.9 lakh. In a Hyderabad case reported on 23 October, the fraudsters first collected a retired employee's Aadhaar and debit-card details, then had him share his screen on a WhatsApp video call, and moved Rs 11.69 lakh out of his fixed deposit and savings accounts. Mumbai Police arrested a developer said to have built 2,805 such APK files ('Senior Citizen Card Verification', pension card) for fraud gangs, linked to about 9,673 victims. Kerala Police warned of fake Facebook ads offering online life-certificate submission, followed by WhatsApp profiles using a bank's logo.

🚩Red flags

• A call or message saying your life certificate must be updated today, or your pension will stop
• A social-media page or ad offering to do your life certificate online. A bank logo on a page or WhatsApp profile does not prove it is your bank
• An .apk file or link on WhatsApp or SMS, such as 'Pension Life Certificate Update Online', 'Senior Citizen Card' or a pension card, instead of an app from the Play Store
• Being asked for your Aadhaar, debit-card number or PIN over the phone 'to update' the certificate
• Being asked to join a WhatsApp video call and share your phone screen

✅What to do

• Submit your life certificate only at your bank branch, post office or pension office, through your bank's doorstep service, or through the official Jeevan Pramaan service. Never do it through someone who called you.
• Never install an app file sent on WhatsApp or SMS, and never share your screen on a video call with a caller.
• No bank needs your card number, PIN or OTP to update a life certificate. Hang up and call the number printed on your card or passbook.
• If you installed a file or shared your screen, switch off mobile data and call your bank at once to block cards and accounts, including fixed deposits. Then call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in.
• Warn elderly relatives now. These calls peak until the 30 November deadline.

Official source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

"Your electricity or gas will be cut tonight" messages

A message or call in your electricity or gas provider's name says the supply will be cut tonight unless you act. The fraudster asks for a small "update fee" or sends an app file that empties your bank account, and callers now quote your real consumer number, because those customer records are bought in bulk.

⚙️How it works

The number in the message is a fraudster's personal mobile. On the call you are asked to pay a small "update" or "reconnection" fee of about Rs 10, either through a link or through an app file he sends you - which captures your card and UPI details or lets him watch your screen and read your one-time codes. The convincing part is no longer the threat but the detail: Faridabad Police recovered 20,000 piped-gas consumer records and 1,000 bank records bought over Telegram, so the caller can read your own consumer number back to you. Lucknow Police have linked 34 cases to one Green Gas impersonation ring, and a single Faridabad complainant lost Rs 5,12,334. The app file is now the main danger. In Pune on 27 October 2026 a caller posing as a piped gas company employee said a bill was unpaid and told a man to download a 'mandatory' APK and enter his bank details, user ID and passwords; Rs 11.25 lakh went out. On 2 November a Pune homemaker downloaded an APK sent to clear a pending gas bill of Rs 13; on 4 November, while she was away, Rs 8.7 lakh left her account. In an Ahmedabad complaint, an Adani Gas bill message on WhatsApp led to an APK, the caller kept the man talking for nearly 30 minutes, he could not end the call without restarting his phone, and Rs 3.7 lakh went in four transactions. Lucknow Cyber Crime Police have arrested a Dhanbad man accused of paying people to collect household details of Green Gas customers; messages that looked like the gas company's then pushed an APK for a 'meter update', and one Lucknow resident lost about Rs 32 lakh.

🚩Red flags

• A bill message from a personal 10-digit mobile number instead of your provider's sender ID
• A threat that the supply goes off "tonight", with a phone number to call
• A request to pay Rs 5-10 to "update", "verify" or "reconnect" - no provider charges a few rupees to keep your supply on
• An app file sent to you in chat to "pay the bill", "update the meter" or "complete the KYC", even for a bill of a few rupees
• The caller knowing your correct consumer number or account number - stolen customer lists are sold in bulk, so knowing your details proves nothing

✅What to do

• Check your bill only inside your provider's official app or website, or on the number printed on your paper bill.
• Electricity boards and gas companies send disconnection notices with your consumer number and a due date, never a "tonight" deadline over WhatsApp.
• Do not call the number in the message, and never install an app to pay a bill.
• Treat a caller who knows your consumer number as a fraudster until you have called your provider back on its published number.
• Forward the message to your provider's official WhatsApp or helpline and report it on cybercrime.gov.in or by calling 1930.

Official source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Your 'boss' on WhatsApp, or a ZIP file, asks for a transfer

A message from your 'boss' asks for the company's bank balance, then for an urgent transfer. Or a ZIP file named like a bank statement or an RBI or MCA notice arrives with orders to open it on an office computer - it installs malware that takes over WhatsApp Web or the company's systems.

⚙️How it works

There are two ways in. In the first, the criminals message an accountant or finance employee from a WhatsApp account showing the owner's or a director's name and photo - either a hijacked account or a copy on a new number - and create urgency. In a Rs 1.30 crore case in Nagpur on 16 October 2026, the 'owner' first asked for the company's bank balances, the accountant sent a screenshot, and then came an order for an urgent RTGS transfer; the real owner later found the number behind the chat was not his. In the second, a ZIP file that looks like a bank statement or an RBI, MCA or tax notice arrives on WhatsApp or email, often with an instruction from 'the boss' to open it on the official company computer. Once extracted it installs malware that takes over WhatsApp Web, steals logins, and can be used to change payment instructions or send transfers; the hijacked account then forwards the same file to contacts. Goa Police's cyber-crime cell warned on 19 October 2026 after a Mapusa businessman lost Rs 2 crore this way, with three more complaints filed. In a Rs 6.8 crore Jaipur case the fraudsters even blocked the real director's number on WhatsApp Web and recreated the earlier conversation, so a familiar chat history is no longer proof of who is writing. Both hit one Hyderabad company within days: a ZIP file that would not open arrived on 29 October 2026 from a colleague's WhatsApp, which turned out to be hacked. On 2 November an accountant got a chat labelled with the CEO's name, sent the bank balances as asked, and paid Rs 70 lakh by RTGS. Only when a further Rs 40 lakh was demanded did she phone the CEO, who said he had sent no messages.

🚩Red flags

• Your boss or the owner asking on WhatsApp for the current bank balance or a balance screenshot - usually the step before an urgent transfer request
• A .zip, .rar or .exe attachment on WhatsApp or email, even from someone you know, with an instruction to open it on the office computer
• A file named like an official notice - RBI, MCA, income tax, bank statement
• An urgent, secret payment order that skips the usual approval, or 'do it now, I am in a meeting'
• A familiar chat thread where the number behind the contact has quietly changed, or a linked device in WhatsApp you do not recognise
• A ZIP that will not open or shows 'nothing to preview'

✅What to do

• Confirm any payment request by a direct voice call on a number you already hold, never by replying in the same chat - even if the boss says yes in the chat.
• Do not open compressed or program files received on WhatsApp or email, and never switch off antivirus because a 'senior' asked; regulators never send notices that way.
• Make two people approve every payment above a set limit, so one urgent message can never move money on its own.
• If a suspicious file was opened, disconnect that computer from the internet, tell your IT team and your bank at once, and log out unknown devices under WhatsApp > Linked devices.
• Call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in the same hour; ask your bank to recall the transfer.

Official source: hyderabadmail.com

'LIC' or 'SEBI' caller demands fee after fee for your policy

A caller from 'LIC head office' or 'SEBI' offers to revive your policy or release its money, then asks for fee after fee into bank accounts they name. The fees keep coming for months and the money never arrives.

⚙️How it works

The caller gives a name and says he works in the accounts department at LIC's headquarters. He knows your policy has lapsed and promises to restore it, then hands you over to two or three 'officials' who stay in touch by phone and WhatsApp. Each step of the 'revival' comes with a new payment - processing, tax, clearance, penalty - sent to bank accounts in the names of individuals or small firms rather than to LIC. When you hesitate, they say the money already paid will be lost, or put you under pressure with threats. A biotechnology professor in Lucknow paid Rs 50.19 lakh in this way between 16 April and 16 October 2026; Lucknow cyber-crime police registered an FIR and said Rs 22 lakh had been frozen (reported 23-24 October 2026). The same trick now comes in SEBI's name: a 64-year-old retired professor in Hyderabad, told unpaid insurance premiums had to be cleared under threat of a CIBIL drop and criminal cases, paid a 'cancellation fee' for a promised Rs 25.6 lakh payout, then 'NOC charges' and more, losing Rs 42.85 lakh by 31 October 2026.

🚩Red flags

• An unexpected call from 'LIC head office' or 'the accounts department' offering to restore a lapsed or old policy
• You are passed on to other 'officials' who handle you only by phone and WhatsApp
• Payments go to personal bank accounts or private firms, not to LIC's own payment page or branch
• Every payment is followed by a new fee, and no receipt, revival letter or updated policy ever appears
• Being told you will lose what you already paid unless you pay one more time

✅What to do

• Revive a lapsed policy only at your LIC branch, through your own agent, or on LIC's official website or app - never through someone who called you.
• Check any claim about your policy by calling LIC on the number printed on your policy document or on its official website.
• Never pay a premium or fee into a personal bank account or UPI ID; LIC issues an official receipt for every payment.
• If you have paid, stop, keep the call records, chats and payment receipts, and call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in at once so the accounts can be frozen.

Official source: hyderabadmail.com

QVSE app: crypto 'investment' with rewards for recruiting

Someone urges you to install the QVSE app from a file and put in crypto for profit and referral bonuses. Police warn against it, and Telangana alone has 56 cases linked to such frauds.

⚙️How it works

Victims are persuaded to install the QVSE ('Quantum Vest Stock Exchange') app from an APK file instead of an app store. They are told to convert rupees into cryptocurrency on the Binance exchange and invest it through the app, with a promised 1% profit on a minimum of 500 USDT, roughly Rs 54,000. Bonuses of 50 USDT for a first-level referral and 25 USDT for a second-level referral reward them for bringing in others. Warangal's Police Commissioner warned about the app in a report of 22 October 2026 and said 56 cases linked to such frauds have been registered in Telangana. Police in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, had warned in September 2026 that a small withdrawal may work at first, then larger ones are blocked and users are told to pay fresh 'tax' or 'reactivation' charges.

🚩Red flags

• An investment app sent as an APK file instead of coming from an official app store
• Being told to turn your rupees into crypto on Binance and invest through the app
• A minimum investment set in USDT, such as 500 USDT
• Bonuses for recruiting new members, such as 50 USDT and 25 USDT by referral level
• A blocked account or withdrawal that needs a new payment to release your money

✅What to do

• Do not install APK files sent by people you do not know, and do not invest through unverified apps or platforms.
• Be very cautious of any request to move money as cryptocurrency, and of schemes that pay you for bringing in new members.
• Do not send more money to release what you already put in. Paying again does not bring it back.
• Never share OTPs, bank details or passwords.
• If you have been cheated, call 1930 or file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in at once; quick reporting may limit your loss.

Official source: hyderabadmail.com

Fake bank or police call: 'hand us your cash or gold'

A caller posing as your bank's fraud team or the police says your money is at risk and wants your cash or gold. They ask you to move savings to a 'safe account', or to buy gold or withdraw cash and give it to an 'officer' or courier for safekeeping.

⚙️How it works

The call starts with a scare: hackers are draining your account, or your name was used in a crime, a SIM purchase or money laundering. A newer opening is 'we have arrested a suspect and found your details on him', backed by a crime reference number and personal details or nicknames the caller should not know. The caller ID can show a genuine police-station or bank number, and in some cases people who rang that number back reached the real police, which made the first call seem genuine. The call is passed to a fake police officer or regulator, sometimes with a forged court order. You are told to move money to a 'safe account', to click a link and enter your passwords and account details 'to secure them', or to buy gold or withdraw cash and hand it to a courier or plain-clothes 'officer'. They keep you on the line for hours and tell you not to tell family or bank staff. A newer opening comes from a fake phone company or government office: a phone or mobile plan was registered in your name, or your number is being used for scams and will be cut off. When you deny it, the call is passed to a fake police officer, who may read out a badge number or send an ID photo. You may even be told to look up a police number and ring it yourself, which also reaches the scammers. The demand can be a 'security deposit' to avoid arrest. Police in Canada and the UK warned of fresh waves in mid-October 2026, with Canadian calls showing real police detachment numbers. Consumer and police warnings in the US and Singapore described the phone-number opening in late October 2026.

🚩Red flags

• A caller says a suspect was arrested with your details, or that a phone or plan you never bought was registered in your name
• Your 'bank' or 'phone company' transfers the call to the police, or the 'police' pass you to a regulator
• You are told to buy gold or withdraw cash and hand it to someone for 'safekeeping', or to move money to another account to protect it
• A link to click, or a request for your passwords, PIN or one-time codes, to 'secure' your account
• Told to keep the 'investigation' secret, or to stay on the line for hours

✅What to do

• Hang up. Banks and police never collect cash, gold or cards, never ask you to move money to keep it safe, and never ask for passwords over the phone.
• Caller ID is not proof: a call can show a real police or bank number. Call back yourself on the number printed on your card or the official website, from a different phone or after waiting a few minutes. Never use a number the caller gives you or tells you to search for.
• Tell a family member before you act on any such call.
• Report it to your country's official cyber-crime or fraud reporting service (in India: call 1930 or use cybercrime.gov.in), and tell your bank at once if money or card details went out.

Official source: consumer.ftc.gov

Fake e-challan SMS or WhatsApp asking you to install an app

An SMS or WhatsApp says a traffic fine is pending and sends a link or an APK file to 'pay' it. The fake Parivahan-style page or app steals your card details and OTPs and empties your bank account - Mangaluru victims alone lost Rs 44 lakh this year.

⚙️How it works

The page looks genuine because it shows your own vehicle number, but it only repeats what you typed. It then asks for card details or tells you to install an app from outside the Play Store. Once installed, the app asks for SMS and accessibility access, hides its icon and forwards bank OTPs to the scammer. Files arrive on WhatsApp with names like 'Vahan Parivahan.apk' or 'e-Challan.apk'. On 30 October 2026 Mangaluru City Police warned that 8 cases had been registered in the city this year, with victims losing Rs 44 lakh together, and that a site address starting with https is no proof it is genuine. In Indore (reported 16 October 2026) a Rs 1,500 red-light 'fine' SMS installed an app called 'NextGen mPariwahan', after which about Rs 5.67 lakh went out in 16 transactions.

🚩Red flags

• A challan message from a private mobile number or on WhatsApp, pushing you to pay 'today' or get a discount
• Any challan, traffic-fine, RTO or vehicle-verification message that wants you to install an app or open an .apk file
• A payment page that is not echallan.parivahan.gov.in or your state traffic police site, even if it shows a padlock or https
• A new app asking to read SMS, use accessibility or become the default SMS app
• An app name built on 'mParivahan' or 'Parivahan' that did not come from Google Play (e.g. 'NextGen mPariwahan')

✅What to do

• Check challans only on echallan.parivahan.gov.in or your state traffic police site - type the address yourself - or call or visit the nearest traffic police station to verify.
• Never install an APK sent by SMS, WhatsApp or Telegram, and never enter card details, OTP or UPI PIN on a challan link.
• If you installed one: switch off mobile data and Wi-Fi, do no banking on that phone, uninstall the app, run Aegix Scan, and change banking passwords from another device.
• If money has gone, call your bank at once and report on 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in.

Official source: daijiworld.com

'ECI-SIR' message: your voter form details do not match

An email, SMS or WhatsApp about the voter-list revision (SIR) says your name was deleted or your details do not match. It wants you to click a link and enter your details, or call an 'election official' who then asks for your bank details, a Rs 10 card payment and your screen.

⚙️How it works

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is under way, so a notice about your voter entry feels real. In the newest version (Jharkhand, end of October 2026), voters get emails, WhatsApp or social-media messages saying 'your name has been removed from the draft voter list', with a link to get it restored that collects personal and bank details. Jamshedpur's District Election Officer Rajiv Ranjan said neither the district election branch nor the state Chief Electoral Officer sends such messages. Another version carries a phone number instead of a link, so you ring them and it feels like you started the contact. Posing as an Election Commission officer or your BLO, the caller asks for bank details 'to verify your identity', has you send Rs 10 from your debit card, then asks you to share your screen while the OTP arrives. A 74-year-old in Pune lost Rs 9.91 lakh this way. In Pune (October 2026) a fake official told an 80-year-old to install an APK 'to update the voter card' and took Rs 5 lakh.

🚩Red flags

• An email, SMS or WhatsApp saying your name was removed from the draft voter list, with a link to get it back
• A message about your voter form, the SIR or a 'name mismatch' that gives a mobile number to ring
• An 'election official' or 'BLO' who asks for bank, debit-card or UPI details - no electoral-roll correction ever needs them
• Being asked to pay a token Rs 5, Rs 10 or Rs 25 'to verify' the correction
• Being asked to install an APK file or a screen-sharing app for a 'voter card update', or to share your screen while an OTP arrives

✅What to do

• Check your name only on voters.eci.gov.in, the ECINET app, your BLO or your Electoral Registration Officer's office - never through a link or number sent to you.
• Do not enter details or upload documents on a link sent by email or WhatsApp, and do not forward such messages - warn family and neighbours instead.
• No electoral-roll work ever needs a payment, a card number, an OTP, an app installed from a link, or your screen.
• If you shared your screen, a code or card details, call your bank on the number printed on your card and block the card at once.
• Report it on cybercrime.gov.in or by calling 1930 the same day - money is recoverable mainly in the first few hours.

Official source: sharpbharat.com

Ad offers lakhs for your old Rs 1 note, then asks for fees

A social-media ad offers lakhs of rupees for your old notes or coins, then asks you to pay first. The 'buyer' and fake GST or tax 'officials' keep inventing charges before the money can be released, and the payout never comes.

⚙️How it works

Ads on Facebook and other social media promise a huge price for old notes or coins, for example Rs 45 lakh for an old one-rupee note. When you reply, the 'buyer' asks for photos and your details, then says the payment is ready but you must first pay charges such as registration, tax or a clearance fee, into bank accounts they give you. Each payment is followed by a new charge. To make the fees look official, other members of the gang call or message posing as GST or tax officials and say the charge is a mandatory statutory fee; when the victim asks for a refund they threaten legal action. A Noida woman who clicked such a Facebook post paid Rs 41.45 lakh in many instalments between 1 and 13 October 2026 (Noida cyber-crime police FIR, reported 22 October). In a case registered by Hyderabad Cybercrime Police, a man lost Rs 7.93 lakh; on 11 October 2026 police said two men were arrested for supplying bank accounts and SIM cards to the gang.

🚩Red flags

• An ad or post offers lakhs of rupees for an ordinary old note or coin
• You must pay a fee, tax or 'clearance' charge before you can receive the money - and another one after that
• A caller says he is from GST, income tax or the RBI and that the fee is a 'statutory' charge paid into a private account
• Payments go to personal bank accounts or UPI IDs, often a different one each time
• Threats of legal action or arrest when you ask for your money back

✅What to do

• Never pay money in order to receive money; a real buyer pays you, not the other way round.
• The RBI does not buy, value or approve sales of old notes and coins, and no tax department collects a fee by phone or into a personal account.
• Stop paying, keep screenshots of the ad, chats and payment receipts, and ask your bank to stop any pending payment.
• Call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in immediately.

Official source: the420.in

Social-media ad asks you to install an app file to sign up

A social-media ad for a club, a service or an official form asks you to install an app file to sign up. The file is malware that lets criminals see your phone and move money, and fake 'officials' or 'bank staff' often call soon after to scare you into paying.

⚙️How it works

The ad looks harmless: activities for seniors, a fitness class, a recycling scheme, free TV, or help submitting a pension or benefit form online. To 'register', you are sent to a chat or a web page and told to download an app file directly instead of from the official app store, sometimes from a profile that uses a real bank's or agency's logo. Once installed, the app can read your messages and one-time codes and give the criminals control of the phone. Soon after, a caller posing as a government official, police officer or bank employee says your account is compromised or linked to a crime and pressures you to transfer money, share bank details or hand over valuables 'for the investigation'. In other cases the criminals simply use the malware to make payments from your bank app, and victims only notice when the money is gone. In October 2026 police in Singapore reported at least 62 such cases since April, and police in India warned of fake ads offering online pension life-certificate submission that end with an app file sent on WhatsApp.

🚩Red flags

• An ad or message asks you to download an app file from a link or chat instead of the official app store
• Your phone warns that the app is from an unknown source, or asks you to turn off its built-in protection
• The new app asks for permission to read messages, show over other apps or control the screen ('Accessibility')
• Right after installing, a 'government official' or 'bank officer' calls to say your account is at risk or linked to a crime
• Anyone asks you to move money, hand over cash or valuables, or share card details 'for an investigation'

✅What to do

• Install apps only from the official app store and keep your phone's built-in app protection switched on.
• Never sign up for an activity, service or official form by installing a file sent from an ad or a chat - go to the organiser's own website or office instead.
• If you installed such an app, switch on flight mode, remove the app, and call your bank on the number on your card to block your accounts.
• Hang up on any 'official' who asks for money or valuables and call the agency back on a number you look up yourself.
• Report it to your country's official cyber-crime or fraud reporting service (in India: call 1930 or use cybercrime.gov.in), and tell your bank at once if money or card details went out.

Official source: police.gov.sg

Urgent money plea from a friend's WhatsApp, real or copied

A WhatsApp message from someone you know says they are in hospital and need money at once. It may come from a copied account on a new number - or from their real number, because the account itself was hijacked.

⚙️How it works

There are two ways in. In the first, the fraudster copies a name and profile picture from a public WhatsApp or social-media account and sets up a fresh WhatsApp account on a different number. In the second, which Rajasthan Police's cyber-crime wing warned about on 21 October 2026, the fraudster takes over the person's real account: they trick the owner into scanning a QR code that links WhatsApp to the fraudster's device, or pose as a friend, an official or customer support to get the six-digit registration code or the two-step verification PIN, or get them to install an app that reads SMS and notifications or shares the screen. Either way, they then message that person's contacts saying they have been admitted to hospital or are stranded, ask for an urgent transfer to a UPI ID or bank account, and forward links that spread the takeover further. Because the name, photo - and sometimes the number - look right, people pay first and check later. A newer twist (Maharashtra, October 2026): the caller phones on WhatsApp using the photo and what police believe is an AI-cloned voice of a respected person you know, asks for a large 'loan' while 'stranded' in another city, and sends a courier to collect cash in person. A 69-year-old from Nagpur handed over Rs 50 lakh this way; cash given to a courier is almost never recovered.

🚩Red flags

• An urgent money request on WhatsApp, even from a number you have saved for that person - their account may have been taken over
• 'I cannot talk right now' - the sender will only chat and never takes a call
• Money needed immediately, to a UPI ID or account in a different name from the person messaging you
• Someone asking you to scan a QR code, or to send them a six-digit code or your WhatsApp PIN 'by mistake' or 'to verify'
• Anyone - however familiar the voice and photo - who asks you to hand cash to a courier or 'their person'

✅What to do

• Call the person on a normal phone call to the number you already have, or call someone else in their family, before sending anything.
• Never scan a QR code someone sends you and never share a WhatsApp registration code or two-step PIN; turn on two-step verification in WhatsApp Settings > Account.
• Check WhatsApp Settings > Linked devices and log out any device you do not recognise; uninstall screen-sharing or unknown apps.
• Report and block the account inside WhatsApp, and warn the person whose name is being used so they can alert their contacts.
• Call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in the same day if money has already gone.

Official source: socialnews.xyz

Cloned voice or video call from a relative or your boss

A call or video call that looks and sounds like someone you know can now be faked with AI. Scammers use a few seconds of a voice or a public photo to pose as your child, a relative, your boss or even a police officer, and demand money at once.

⚙️How it works

A short clip from social media is enough to copy a voice, and a face can be faked on a video call. The 'relative' cries that they were arrested or had an accident, the 'boss' needs an urgent bank transfer, or a 'police officer' leaves a voicemail about a warrant - in the US scammers cloned a real sheriff's captain's voice and used his official photo. INTERPOL launched a worldwide warning campaign on 19 October 2026, joined by police in several countries, because a familiar face or voice is no longer proof of who is calling. Payment is demanded by bank transfer, gift cards or crypto.

🚩Red flags

• A panicked call or video call from a loved one, followed by a stranger - a 'police officer' or 'lawyer' - asking for money
• Your boss or a colleague on a video call asking for an urgent transfer or a change of bank details
• A call or voicemail about an arrest warrant or missed court date that can be settled by paying now
• Demands for secrecy - do not tell the family, do not call anyone else
• Payment by gift card, crypto or transfer to a personal account

✅What to do

• Hang up and call the person back on the number you already have for them - never the number the caller gives you.
• Agree a family code word or question for real emergencies, and ask for it.
• Police never settle a warrant or a fine by phone payment; call the police station on its official number to check.
• At work, confirm any urgent payment request in person or through a second, known channel before sending money.
• Report it to your country's official cyber-crime or fraud reporting service (in India: call 1930 or use cybercrime.gov.in), and tell your bank at once if money or card details went out.

Official source: interpol.int

KYC-expiry links in the name of your bank, wallet or telecom operator

An SMS or email says your SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Paytm, PhonePe or SIM KYC has expired and the account will be blocked today. The link opens a look-alike login page that collects your net-banking password, card details and OTP, or downloads a fake bank APK.

⚙️How it works

The page is a copy of the real login screen on a domain that only resembles the bank's. Whatever you type goes to the scammer, who logs in on their side and uses the OTP you 'confirm' to move money. The APK variant reads your incoming SMS so future OTPs are stolen silently. A real sender name is no longer proof: in October 2026 the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau booked three telemarketing firms accused of sending fraud SMS with malicious short links under the genuine registered sender IDs of a mutual-fund registrar (KFINTH) and a stockbroker (NARIMN), so the messages landed in the same thread as the company's real alerts.

🚩Red flags

• A link to update KYC - banks update KYC only in their own app, at the branch or via video KYC you start yourself
• The address is not the bank's real domain (for example sbi.co.in, hdfcbank.com, icicibank.com)
• Urgent 'blocked today' language and a shortened link (bit.ly, tinyurl, cutt.ly)
• A download of an .apk file
• A link in a message from a familiar sender ID such as your bank, broker or fund house - sender IDs can be misused, so judge the link, not the sender

✅What to do

• Do not tap the link. Open your bank's official app instead and see if a KYC notice really exists.
• Check the sender, but do not trust it alone: a mobile-number sender is always fake, and even a real sender ID such as SBIINB or HDFCBK can be misused - never act on a link in an SMS; open the official app instead.
• Run the link through Aegix Scam Checker before opening anything you are unsure about.
• If you typed anything on such a page, change the password in the official app and call the bank at once.
• If money has gone, call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in at once.

Official source: thestatesman.com

Google ad offers cheap vehicle-insurance renewal

A search ad using a big insurer's name offers a cheap vehicle-insurance renewal, then takes your payment and emails a fake policy. You find out only when you need to claim or are stopped on the road without valid cover.

⚙️How it works

Fraudsters buy sponsored search ads in the name of well-known insurance companies, promising discounted renewals or lower premiums. When you call the number in the ad, a call-centre style 'agent' takes your vehicle details and asks you to pay into a bank account or UPI ID they give you. A policy certificate made with photo-editing software then arrives by email from an address that looks official. Ghaziabad Police arrested seven people on 9-10 October 2026 for running such a call centre; victims in Kerala, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and other states lost lakhs of rupees.

🚩Red flags

• The renewal offer came from a 'Sponsored' search result, not the insurer's own website or app
• You are asked to pay into a personal bank account or UPI ID instead of the insurer's payment page
• The premium is far below your usual renewal quote
• The policy arrives only as an emailed PDF and does not show up in the insurer's app or website

✅What to do

• Renew only through the insurer's official app or website, typing the address yourself, or through an agent you know.
• Before paying, confirm the quote and policy number with the insurer's customer care number printed on your old policy.
• If you already paid, check the policy on the insurer's website at once and ask your bank to stop the payment.
• Call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in immediately, keeping the ad, phone number, emails and payment receipts.

Official source: thenewsmill.com

Investment 'groups' and apps that show big profits you cannot withdraw

You are added to a chat group, or you land on a news-style page promising easy profits, and an 'analyst' posts daily trading tips said to come from an AI system. To prove the platform is licensed they send you a certificate or a regulator filing. The balance grows on screen, but withdrawals are refused because the account is suddenly 'frozen' or a fee is due first.

⚙️How it works

The entry point is an advertisement or a page built to read like a news article or a review, promising fast and easy profits. Inside the group an 'analyst' or 'mentor' posts signals credited to an AI trading bot, other members post screenshots of winnings, and the operator answers any doubt with a licence image, certificate or registration filing that is forged. You deposit, a dashboard you do not control shows the balance climbing, so you add more. When you try to withdraw, nothing comes out: the account is 'frozen', or a fee, tax or verification deposit has to be paid first. The sites and the chat scripts are mass-produced and machine-customised, so the same operation runs in many languages and many countries at the same time.

🚩Red flags

• You reached the platform from an advertisement or a news-style article promising easy or guaranteed profits
• The returns are credited to an AI bot, an algorithm or 'signals' only this group has
• Proof of a licence is a certificate, licence image or filing screenshot they send you, not an entry you found yourself on a public register
• Other members' profit screenshots are the only evidence anyone has ever been paid
• The balance grows on their dashboard, but a withdrawal is refused, delayed, or needs a fee or an 'unfreezing' payment first

✅What to do

• Treat a trading-signal group you were added or invited into as a sales funnel, not a service, and leave it.
• Never accept a certificate, licence image or filing screenshot as proof - look the firm up yourself on the public register of the financial regulator where you live.
• Type a publication's address yourself instead of trusting a news-style page reached from an advertisement or a chat link.
• Treat a balance you cannot withdraw as money already lost and stop paying: fees, taxes and 'unfreezing' payments are the last stage of the theft.
• Do not pay anyone who contacts you later offering to recover the funds.
• Report it to your country's official cyber-crime or fraud reporting service (in India: call 1930 or use cybercrime.gov.in), and tell your bank at once if money or card details went out.

Official source: enisa.europa.eu

Fake overseas job, study-visa and Gulf recruitment agents

Agents on WhatsApp, Instagram and in local offices promise a Canada, Europe, Gulf or Australia job or study visa for an upfront 'processing', 'medical' or 'embassy' fee running into lakhs. Some victims are trafficked into scam compounds in South-East Asia and forced to run online frauds.

⚙️How it works

Genuine-looking offer letters, visa stamps and video 'interviews' are faked. Payments are staged - registration, then medical, then ticket - and the agent vanishes or the visa turns out to be a tourist visa with no job at the other end. Canada has now warned would-be migrants, especially in Punjab, about AI-made fake videos and voices of immigration officials that promise a guaranteed visa or job if you pay; the messages are made to look as if they come from the Canadian government.

🚩Red flags

• A job that needs no interview, no skills test and money before a contract
• A video or voice message from an 'immigration official' promising a guaranteed visa, or an email about your visa from a Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo address (Canada's immigration department uses only gc.ca or canada.ca and does not send visas by email)
• An agent who is not a registered recruiting agent (check emigrate.gov.in) and payment to a personal account
• Offers for 'data entry' or 'customer service' in Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar or Laos with flights paid by the employer
• Pressure to hand over your passport

✅What to do

• Check the recruiting agent's registration on emigrate.gov.in before paying anything; use only registered agents for Gulf and other ECR-country jobs.
• Verify a foreign employer directly through its official website and the embassy - not through the agent's contacts.
• Keep your passport; never pay for a 'job' before a signed contract you can verify.
• Report on cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930, or go to the local police; if someone is stuck abroad, contact the nearest Indian embassy and the MEA helpline.

Official source: newsbytesapp.com

Nude video call from a stranger, then blackmail

A video call comes in from a number you do not know, a naked woman appears, and the call is recorded. The callers then demand money to stop a video "with your face on it" being sent to your family or put online, and every payment is followed by a new demand.

⚙️How it works

The few seconds before you cut the call are recorded - or your public social-media photos are morphed into obscene images - so they never needed anything real from you. A second caller then poses as a cyber-crime officer and says the offence carries a seven-year jail term, and a third poses as a video platform and charges a "takedown fee". The same trap also starts as a friend request from a woman's profile that moves to chat and then to a request to undress on camera. A 26-year-old in Ahmedabad paid Rs 49.7 lakh across many transfers; a 70-year-old in Hyderabad paid about Rs 38 lakh after being threatened with a false charge involving a minor.

🚩Red flags

• A video call from an unknown number where a naked person appears straight away
• A caller saying he is from a police or cyber-crime branch about an "obscene video case" and quoting a jail term
• Anyone offering, for a fee, to "delete" or "take down" a video from a platform
• A new online friend who turns the chat sexual within days, or asks you to undress on camera
• A demand paid by UPI or a QR code, with the instruction to tell nobody in your family

✅What to do

• Cut the call, say nothing, block the number and do not call back.
• Pay nothing. The first payment always brings another demand - paying is what keeps it going.
• Screenshot the demands, the numbers and the payment details before you block them.
• Tell one person you trust straight away, and report it on cybercrime.gov.in or by calling 1930 - the whole threat depends on your silence.
• Lock down your social-media photo albums: morphed pictures are made from photos that are public. Real police never demand money on a call and never settle a case by UPI.

Official source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

"Press Add Call and merge" - the caller joins your bank's OTP call

Someone claiming to be from your bank, a courier or your electricity company says the call must go to a 'senior official' and asks you to press Add Call and merge the two calls. The call you merge in is your bank's own verification call, and the fraudster is listening to the OTP it reads out.

⚙️How it works

The call opens with a manufactured emergency - an unauthorised transaction spotted on your account, the account about to be suspended, a parcel that needs verifying. While you talk, the caller collects enough card or account detail to start a payment at their end. You are then told the call has to be transferred to a 'senior official', a 'verification cell' or an automated system, and walked through the Add Call and Merge buttons on your handset. The second call is the bank's genuine OTP or voice-verification call, so the code is spoken into a conference the fraudster is sitting on, or you are asked to read it out 'to the system'. With that code the payment they already started goes through and the money leaves your account.

🚩Red flags

• The caller asks you to press 'Add Call' or 'Merge' and join a second number to the call you are already on
• They say they are transferring you to a 'senior official' or 'verification cell' but will not let you hang up and call the bank back yourself
• A bank OTP or an automated verification call arrives while you are still on the call with the 'bank'
• You are told to read a code out loud 'to the officer' or 'to the system' instead of typing it into the bank's own app
• The pretext is an unauthorised transaction, an account about to be blocked or a parcel needing verification, and the urgency only grows

✅What to do

• Never add or merge a call because a caller asked you to. Hang up instead.
• End the call and dial the number printed on your card or shown inside your bank's own app - never the number that rang you.
• Treat any OTP that arrives during an unexpected call as an attack in progress: read the SMS yourself, it names the amount and the merchant, and do not say it aloud.
• If a code was shared, call 1930 or report on cybercrime.gov.in at once and ask the bank to block the card and freeze the beneficiary account.
• Remember that no bank, courier or utility ever needs an OTP, PIN, CVV or password read out over a phone call.

Official source: telanganatoday.com

'Your parcel could not be delivered' text asking for a small fee

A text or email says a parcel is held because of a wrong address or an unpaid fee, with a link to pay a small amount. The page steals your card details and is then used for larger charges.

⚙️How it works

The message copies the look of a real postal or courier service and uses a short or look-alike link. The fee is tiny so you pay without thinking; the real aim is your card number, expiry date and security code, sometimes followed by a fake 'bank verification' call.

🚩Red flags

• A delivery message you were not expecting, or for a parcel you cannot match to an order
• A link that is not the courier's own website, or a shortened link
• A small 'redelivery', 'customs' or 'address update' fee
• Pressure to pay within hours or the parcel will be returned

✅What to do

• Track parcels only in the courier's official app or by typing its address yourself.
• Never enter card details from a link in a delivery text or email.
• If you already paid, call your bank on the number printed on your card and block the card.
• Report it to your country's official cyber-crime or fraud reporting service (in India: call 1930 or use cybercrime.gov.in), and tell your bank at once if money or card details went out.

Someone asks you to read out a one-time code you just received

A caller or chat contact asks for a verification code sent to your phone, saying it was 'sent by mistake' or is needed to confirm something. That code lets them take over your account or approve a payment.

⚙️How it works

The scammer starts a login, password reset or payment on your account, which makes the real service send you a code. They then pose as the bank, a delivery agent, a friend or the service's support team to get you to read it out.

🚩Red flags

• Anyone asking for a code that arrived by SMS, email or an app
• A friend's account messaging you that they 'sent a code to your number by mistake'
• A caller who already knows some of your details and says the code is to 'cancel' or 'secure' something

✅What to do

• Never share a one-time code with anyone. Real companies never ask for it.
• Read the whole message: it usually says what the code is for and that you must not share it.
• If you shared one, change that account's password at once, sign out other devices and turn on two-step verification.
• Report it to your country's official cyber-crime or fraud reporting service (in India: call 1930 or use cybercrime.gov.in), and tell your bank at once if money or card details went out.

Part-time 'task' jobs paying you to like videos or rate hotels

A message offers easy online work: like videos, rate products or review hotels for a small fee per task. After a few small payments you are asked to 'deposit' money to unlock bigger tasks, and you lose everything you put in.

⚙️How it works

The first tasks really pay a little, to win your trust. Then the 'job' moves to prepaid tasks with promised commission; your account shows growing earnings, but to withdraw you must deposit again to 'complete the set' or fix an 'error'.

🚩Red flags

• An unexpected job offer by text or chat for simple online tasks
• Being asked to pay or deposit money to earn more
• Earnings shown only inside a website or chat, never paid to you in full

✅What to do

• Real employers never ask you to pay to work.
• Stop as soon as a 'job' asks for a deposit, and do not try to 'win back' what you lost.
• Block the contact and report the number to your messaging app.
• Report it to your country's official cyber-crime or fraud reporting service (in India: call 1930 or use cybercrime.gov.in), and tell your bank at once if money or card details went out.

'Hi Mum/Dad, this is my new number' message asking for urgent money

A message from an unknown number claims to be your child or relative who lost their phone. After a short chat they ask you to pay an urgent bill or transfer money for them because their banking app 'is not working yet'.

⚙️How it works

The scammer uses a family term rather than a name, keeps the chat short and avoids calls. The payment goes to a stranger's account; sometimes the story continues with more bills.

🚩Red flags

• A new number claiming to be family, without using your names
• An excuse why they cannot call or take a video call
• An urgent payment to someone else's account

✅What to do

• Call the person on the number you already have, or ask a question only they would know.
• Never send money to a new number until you have spoken to the person directly.
• Report it to your country's official cyber-crime or fraud reporting service (in India: call 1930 or use cybercrime.gov.in), and tell your bank at once if money or card details went out.

Pop-up or call saying your computer or phone is infected

A loud web pop-up or a phone call claims your device has a virus or your account was hacked and gives a 'support' number. The caller asks you to install a remote-access app, then steals money from your bank or charges for fake repairs.

⚙️How it works

Once the remote-access app is installed, the scammer can see your screen. They may ask you to log in to online banking to 'check for refunds', then move money or fake an over-refund and ask you to send it back.

🚩Red flags

• A pop-up that will not close, with a warning sound and a phone number
• A call from 'tech support' or a well-known software company you did not contact
• Being asked to install a screen-sharing or remote-control app

✅What to do

• Close the browser (force-quit if needed); real warnings never include a phone number to call.
• Never let a caller you did not contact control your device.
• If you gave access, uninstall the app, change your passwords from another device and call your bank.
• Report it to your country's official cyber-crime or fraud reporting service (in India: call 1930 or use cybercrime.gov.in), and tell your bank at once if money or card details went out.

Online romance that turns into a request for money or crypto investment

Someone you met on a dating app, social media or a 'wrong number' message builds a close relationship over weeks, never meets in person, then asks for money for an emergency or urges you to invest together on a crypto platform.

⚙️How it works

Profiles use stolen photos. The scammer is patient and affectionate, and the 'investment' platform shows fake profits so you put in more. The money goes to the scammers.

🚩Red flags

• An online partner who always has a reason not to video call or meet
• Talk moves quickly to money, emergencies or 'opportunities'
• Pressure to keep the relationship or investment secret

✅What to do

• Never send money or crypto to someone you have not met in person.
• Reverse-image search their photos; stolen pictures often show up elsewhere.
• Talk to a friend or family member before sending any money.
• Report it to your country's official cyber-crime or fraud reporting service (in India: call 1930 or use cybercrime.gov.in), and tell your bank at once if money or card details went out.

Matrimonial-site 'NRI' match whose gift is stuck at customs

Fraudsters build a fake matrimonial profile as an Indian settled abroad, move you to WhatsApp where 'his family' joins in, then say a gift he posted is held by customs. The duty and clearance charges you pay go into rented bank accounts, and the demands never stop.

⚙️How it works

The profile shows a well-settled Indian living abroad, with photographs and a marriage proposal. Once the chat moves to WhatsApp, other gang members join posing as his parents and sister, so the family feels real. Weeks later he says he has couriered jewellery, a phone or foreign currency, and a 'customs officer' then calls to say the parcel is detained until duty is paid. Mandsaur police in Madhya Pradesh traced one Shamgarh victim who paid about Rs 7.5 lakh, and found more than 150 rented bank accounts and SIMs behind over 150 cases worth more than Rs 11 crore.

🚩Red flags

• A match who has never met you in person or on a live video call, while several 'relatives' vouch for him on WhatsApp
• A gift you never asked for said to be stuck at customs, with you told to pay the duty instead of the sender
• Each payment going to a different bank account in a personal name, unconnected to your match or to customs
• A 'customs officer' threatening a case or arrest unless the charges are paid at once
• A new charge after every payment - duty, then a penalty, then a processing or release fee

✅What to do

• Indian customs never asks the receiver to pay duty into a personal bank account or UPI ID - duty is paid to the delivery company or on the official customs portal.
• Stop paying the moment a gift needs money, and never pay a new charge to recover what you have already paid.
• Insist on a live video call and a meeting through family before any money moves.
• Report on 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in the same day, while the bank can still freeze the money.

Official source: freepressjournal.in

Parcel 'address update' fee that steals card details

A text or WhatsApp message says an India Post, Speed Post or courier parcel is held because your address is wrong, and asks you to tap a link and pay a small fee to correct it. The page is fake and exists to capture your card number, net-banking password or UPI PIN.

⚙️How it works

The message says a parcel will be returned unless you update the address at once, and gives a link. The link opens a page built to resemble the real postal or courier portal and asks for a token 'address correction' fee, so the amount feels too small to worry about. The payment step then asks for card details, net-banking credentials or a UPI PIN, which the fraudsters use for much larger transactions. PIB Fact Check has called these messages fake: India Post never sends messages asking you to update your address for delivery, and people should not click such links.

🚩Red flags

• The only way offered to fix the address is a link in the message - India Post never asks you to correct a delivery address through a texted link
• The page asks for a token fee and then wants your card number and CVV, net-banking password or UPI PIN; a small fee never needs any of those
• The web address is not indiapost.gov.in or your courier's real site even though the page looks identical
• You are told to download an app or APK file to view the parcel instead of the details simply being shown on the page
• The message names no sender and no tracking number you recognise, and you were not expecting a parcel at all

✅What to do

• Do not pay and do not enter card, net-banking or UPI details; close the page.
• Track any consignment only on indiapost.gov.in or your courier's own app, and confirm with India Post customer care on 1800-266-6868.
• If you already paid or typed card details, call your bank at once to block the card and reverse the transaction.
• Report it on the national cybercrime helpline 1930 or at cybercrime.gov.in the same day.

Official source: newsonair.gov.in

Fake hospital appointment app that drains money in small UPI Lite payments

You search online for a hospital's appointment or enquiry number and call the number shown. The 'hospital staff' send an app file on WhatsApp to book the appointment - and once it is installed, money starts leaving your account in repeated small amounts you may not notice.

⚙️How it works

Kerala Police warned on 20 September 2026 that fraudsters put fake phone numbers into Google search results for hospital appointments and enquiries. Posing as hospital staff, they send an app file on WhatsApp to 'book the appointment'. Once installed, it can expose confidential information including OTPs, misuse the UPI apps already on the phone and install other payment apps without your knowledge. Where UPI Lite is switched on, small payments need no OTP, so police urge people not to ignore repeated small debits under Rs 1,000.

🚩Red flags

• A hospital 'appointment app' sent to you as a file on WhatsApp instead of being on Google Play
• A helpline number taken from search results rather than the hospital's own website
• Several small debits under Rs 1,000 in a row that you did not make
• A new app asking to read your SMS, notifications or contacts to 'confirm the appointment'
• Payment apps on your phone that you never installed

✅What to do

• Book appointments only through the hospital's official website or its app from Google Play, and check any phone number on that website.
• Never install an app file sent on WhatsApp for an appointment, KYC or a refund - Kerala Police warn against it; install apps only from Google Play.
• Do not ignore repeated small debits below Rs 1,000; open your UPI app, turn UPI Lite off and check your balance.
• If you installed such a file: switch on flight mode, uninstall it, run Aegix Scan, and change your banking passwords from another device.
• Report on 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in and tell your bank at once.

Official source: theprint.in

Part-time 'task' jobs: like videos, rate places, earn commission

An online ad or a WhatsApp or Telegram message offers easy part-time work from home - liking and subscribing to videos or rating places on maps. A small commission is paid at first; then you are asked to invest more for bigger returns, and once you deposit a larger sum it is frozen.

⚙️How it works

The Home Ministry's cyber-crime centre (I4C) set out the steps when it had over 100 such websites blocked in December 2023. Targeted ads on Google and Meta use phrases like 'Ghar baithe job' in several languages, aimed mostly at retired employees, women and unemployed young people. Clicking the ad starts a WhatsApp or Telegram chat with an agent who gives you tasks such as liking and subscribing to videos or rating places on maps. You get some commission at first and are then asked to invest more to earn more for each task. Once you trust them and deposit a larger sum, the deposit is frozen. I4C found the sites were run by overseas operators using rented (mule) bank accounts, with the money taken out of India through card networks, crypto, overseas ATM withdrawals and foreign fintech companies.

🚩Red flags

• A work-from-home offer you never applied for, reached through an ad or an unknown WhatsApp or Telegram contact
• Tasks like liking or subscribing to videos or rating places, with a small commission paid at first
• Being asked to invest or deposit money to unlock bigger tasks or a higher commission
• Earnings shown on a website dashboard that will not let you withdraw, or a deposit that is suddenly frozen
• The receiver's name shown in your UPI app has nothing to do with the 'company'

✅What to do

• No real employer pays you to like videos or asks you to deposit money to work.
• Stop paying the moment a deposit is requested - there is no 'final task'.
• Never pay an unknown WhatsApp or Telegram contact without checking, and look at the receiver's name in your UPI app before you pay.
• Screenshot the chats and report on cybercrime.gov.in or 1930; report the group inside Telegram/WhatsApp too.
• Warn family members who are looking for work from home.

Official source: pib.gov.in

Fake courier, police or customs call about a parcel with drugs or passports

A caller says a parcel you sent, or one addressed to you, has been found with drugs, fake passports or other illegal items. You are passed to a fake police, narcotics or CBI officer, and the call often turns into a 'digital arrest' where you must stay on a video call until you pay.

⚙️How it works

The Home Ministry described the pattern in a May 2024 alert: callers posing as police, the CBI, narcotics officials, the RBI or the Enforcement Directorate say a parcel you sent or are due to receive contains illegal goods, drugs, fake passports or other contraband, and demand money to settle the 'case'. Some victims are kept under 'digital arrest' on Skype or another video call until the money is paid; the callers use studios made to look like police stations and government offices and wear uniforms to look genuine. The Ministry calls it organised online economic crime run by cross-border syndicates.

🚩Red flags

• You were not expecting any parcel, or it is 'addressed to you' from a city you have no link to
• The caller passes you to a 'police', 'CBI' or 'narcotics' officer on the same call or on a video call
• Being told to stay on a video call and not hang up or tell anyone
• A demand for money to close the 'case', or a request to install an app or share an OTP

✅What to do

• Hang up and check any real shipment on the courier's official app or website using your own tracking number.
• No police, CBI, narcotics or customs officer settles a case by taking money over a phone or video call.
• Never install an app or share an OTP because a caller told you to.
• Report the call on cybercrime.gov.in or 1930.

Official source: pib.gov.in