ICICI Bank has warned its customers to beware of SIM-Swap fraud.
In a Twitter post the bank advised customers to "never publicly share your contact details on any social media platform as it is sensitive personal information."
What is SIM-Swap fraud? All you need to know
According to the ICICI Bank website, a SMI-Swap fraud occurs when a fraudster gets a new SIM card issued for your registered mobile number through the mobile service provider under SIM swap/exchange.
The fraudster gets unique registration number or OTP (one-time password) and alerts needed for doing financial transactions through your bank account with the help of the new SIM card.
They first gather your bank account details and mobile registration number through phishing attacks and install a trojan or malware on your phone or computer through email.
They approach the SIM card issuer once they manage to get your registered mobile number and bank account details. To get the new SIM card, fraudsters can use any excuse such as, they lost the mobile phone or can use forged documents.
The original SIM Card with the customer stops working once they obtain and activate the new one, and they use this to conduct the unauthorised transactions.
SIM-Swap fraud - Steps through which you can prevent from it
- Enquire with your mobile operator about the status of phone service if your phone does not show any network connectivity.
- Do not share any personal or account details on the phone on an incoming call. Do not even verify details if the person already seems to have them.
- Register for email and SMS alerts with your bank.
- Keep a check on the transactions regularly.
- Install a security app on your phone that can identify malware and trojans.
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