Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Feb 21: Of late, cyber crimes are on the increase, and the cheaters come in various forms, introducing themselves as bank representatives, employees of credit card firms, or lottery operators. They might try to burn a hole in your pocket by contacting the gullible in the form of phone calls, SMS, WhatsApp messages, social media and other routes.

A resident of Kavoor here received a call recently from a cellphone No. 9717616353. The caller said that he was from the call centre of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India and had called to inform that the insurance policy he had taken earlier had lapsed. "You have failed in your attempt to contact the agent in an effort to get back your money. We will call you again before evening. Please keep details of your bank account, PAN card number, ATM card number etc ready so that we can send money to you. If you fail to do so, the money will be forfeited by LIC," the caller said.

The person who received the call grew suspicious and visited the LIC office and its information centre. The staff there confirmed that his policy was in force and he was advised not to respond to such calls. Thereafter, the person got several calls from the same number, but he did not receive the call, it is gathered.

There have often been cases in which people have lost money after parting with their credit/credit card details over phone. This is another of various modes of fraud through which fraudsters try to swindle money.