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In SIM Swap Fraud, fraudsters take control of your mobile number and obtain OTPs of banks and other services, due to which account takeover and theft of money takes place within minutes.
New Delhi. SIM Swap Fraud has increased rapidly in the country in recent times. This is a fraud in which fraudsters take control of your mobile number. They trick the telecom company and get your number ported to a new SIM. As soon as your number reaches them, they get the OTP coming from the bank and other services. With the help of this OTP, they commit big frauds like password reset, money transfer and account takeover.
After the surge in such cases in 2024-25, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) have warned telecom companies and banks. Now new rules are being implemented to reduce dependence on SMS based authentication and strengthen fraud checks. CERT-IN and state cyber units have also cited SIM porting scam as the main reason for major financial fraud.
Use an app-based authenticator or hardware security key
Experts say that in important accounts, instead of SMS OTP, use of app-based authenticator or hardware security key should be started. Apart from this, setting a PIN on your SIM, getting a port-out lock or number lock installed from the operator and limiting the mobile number to the recovery contact in the bank are very effective methods.
Be careful if you see no service on your mobile
If the network suddenly disappears or No Service appears in your phone, then consider it an emergency. Immediately call customer care and bank from any other phone and get SIM lock/reversal and account frozen. After this, change the passwords of email and bank apps with the new device, because the email account is most important.
What to do if SIM swap fraud happens?
If fraud happens to you, then lodge a complaint on the cybercrime portal and keep all the documents of telecom companies and banks as evidence. In many cases, investigating agencies also provide relief if the fault of the telecom and bank is proved.
