The IVR used to be quite benign
Back in the day when the idea of IVR was invented and the system put in place it was done with the idea of helping clients reach to the right person or access the desired information with the minimum of human intervention.
It was and to this day quite effectively doing the job. However the modern day IVR may not be as benign as it was designed to be, especially if those designing and controlling are cyber criminals programming and managing it to dupe the human at the other end.
The IVR scam drama unfolds
A lady in the hustling and bustling tech city of Banguluru, India finds her mobile ringing.
The caller ID shows that it is the number of a bank which also happens to be the bank where she has an account.
Thinking it to be a call from her bank she picks up the call.
Did She walked into a well laid out trap?
Little did she realize that the call was a trap. What she thought to be a genuine call was a pre recorded IVR type call.
The call was a prerecorded voice in English which informed her that a sum of Rs 200000 ($2308) was being transferred from her bank account to another bank account.
The IVR voice asked her to press 3 if he had made the transaction and press the digit 1 if she did not make the transaction.
Since she had not made any such transaction so the voice recording came as a shock and brought in a degree of panic.
She acted on the instruction and pressed the digit 1
Another prerecorded voice message instructed her to go to her bank and speak to the manager at the Bank branch.
hearing this note she promptly checked her account and found that a sum of Rs 200000 ($2308) had been debited from her account.
She rushed to the bank and spoke to the bank manager who recommended that she should contact the cyber helpline number which is 1930.
It was also suggested that a formal report should be lodged with the cyber helpline which she promptly did. The bank also informed the police department about the incident.
How is the IVR used to get information from the customer?
The officer from the police department informed me that the cyber criminals often use pre recorded IVR messages to get information from bank users.
This information could be
-The last 4 digits of the debit card
- Date of birth of the account holder
- Account number
- CVV of the card
- OTP of the transaction or other transaction credentials
These bits of information can be crucial in defrauding the victing and taking away the money from the account.
There is a possibility that the victim may have given additional information during the call which could have helped the cybercriminals in conducting the heist.
Matter is being investigated
Though the matter is being investigated and all the pieces of the puzzle are not out. Till the proceedings are on one can only speculate as to what all transpired on the call.
How can one safeguard oneself from such frauds?
Do not take the caller id at face value. It is easy to fool the caller id by setting up a number as that of a bank.
As a common safeguard do not divulge any personal or account related information.
Try to have a separate phone number for taking calls and the one registered to your bank account.
May the force be with you!
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