Many people rely on Google to find customer care numbers for companies and often dial the first number that comes up in the search results. However, it is important to be cautious as these numbers can often lead to cyber fraudsters.
A cyber intelligence monitoring firm working with the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) discovered a staggering 31,197 fake customer care numbers online. Interestingly, approximately 3.7% of these numbers, totaling 1,154, were registered in Gujarat.
According to a report published by CloudSEK’s XVigil on February 24, the banking and finance sector accounted for 39.4% of fraud calls. Healthcare came second at 9.9%, followed by transportation at 6.6%, and public relations firms at 2.3%.
The criminals involved in this phishing network begin by altering the customer care numbers of companies and financial institutions on Google. They employ search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to push these fake numbers to the top of the search results.
When individuals search for a number on Google and call the first one they see, they unknowingly fall into a trap. These fraudsters go beyond manipulating the Google search engine; they also replace contact information on Google Maps, which allows anyone to edit it. Furthermore, they spread these fake numbers on various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Telegram. They often respond to complaints with these phony numbers before the actual company can even address the issue. The report states, “Scammers impersonate genuine entities, using their name, logo, and similar-sounding website domains. While some can be identified through profile images in Truecaller records, others require in-depth analysis of the content on the associated source domains.” Unfortunately, the Gujarat Police have been struggling to combat these cybercriminals.
A police officer explained, “The fraudsters hire people to continuously search for the fraudulent number. This boosts the prominence of the link with that number, causing it to appear at the top of the search results. They even utilize artificial intelligence tools to further enhance their links.” He added, “When a person calls the fake number, they speak to a fraudster posing as a customer care executive who tries to extract sensitive banking information. The fraudsters also convince the caller to click on a link that allows them to withdraw money from the caller’s account.”
B M Tank, a DySP (Deputy Superintendent of Police) with the Gujarat CID crime cyber cell, stated, “As soon as we receive a message through our helpline 1930, our team alerts the phone service providers. We promptly block these numbers.” An officer from the Ahmedabad cybercrime police mentioned that they blocked 10 phone numbers of fraudsters in November 2022 after the crooks replaced the phone numbers of the Somnath trust guesthouse and scammed several individuals. “We handle these issues on a case-by-case basis. We block numbers, but the fraudsters create 100 new ones the next day. It’s almost impossible to completely stop them,” said the officer.