Airtel warns on the growing cyber frauds amid a massive surge in online transactions

Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal has warned the Airtel subscribers on the massive increase in the cyber frauds amid a massive surge in online transactions during the second wave of the pandemic, and asserted the company is working "relentlessly" and coming out with safety features to ensure customers are not vulnerable to fraudsters. In an e-mail outreach to customers, Vittal highlighted the modus operandi being adopted by fraudsters and also drew attention to cyber frauds related to digital payments

Sounding out a warning on the kinds of fraud that users could likely face, he said that Airtel has developed an "industry-first feature" that is geared towards conducting secure online transactions "without the fear of being duped by a fraudster".

"Please note that Airtel does not sell VIP numbers on the phone and will never ask you to download any third-party apps. In both instances, please immediately call 121 to confirm. In fact, I would say when in doubt simply call 121," Vittal advised in his mail to Airtel subscribers.

Cautioning against fraudsters calling customers pretending to be Airtel employees, he said that this could be under the pretext of an incomplete Know Your Customer (KYC) form.The fraudster may request the customer to install the 'Airtel Quick Support' app from the Google Play Store to allow them to help.

As no such app exists on the play store, when the customer tries to install it, they are redirected to TeamViewer Quick Support App.The TeamViewer Quick Support app allows the fraudster to remotely take over the device and accounts associated with the device. And so, if the customer does install it, they allow the fraudster into all their accounts connected to the device," Vittal said urging users to guard against such instances.

Similarly, the fraudster may call or send an SMS claiming to be from Airtel and promising highly discounted VIP numbers.