India Warns of New Scam Calls Mimicking International Dial

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued a fresh advisory, warning mobile users about a new scam involving fraudulent calls. These calls are designed to look like international calls but misleadingly display India's +91 country code. Users are urged to be extremely cautious and avoid divulging any personal or financial data when receiving such calls.

Genuine international calls will always show the correct country code of origin. If a call claims to be international but shows the +91 prefix, it is a strong indicator of a scam. Scammers employ caller ID spoofing to impersonate telecom officials, police, or bank representatives, attempting to extract sensitive information like OTPs or PINs.

These fraudulent calls often create a sense of urgency or panic, threatening SIM card deactivation or legal action. The DoT advises against responding to suspicious calls or clicking unknown links. Legitimate international calls cannot display India's +91 code unless the caller is using an Indian mobile number. Users should independently verify unknown callers before sharing information.

To combat this escalating threat, citizens are encouraged to report all suspicious calls and fraud attempts using the Sanchar Saathi platform. Enhanced user awareness is considered a crucial defense against increasingly sophisticated telecom fraud techniques.