Abid Bashir
Srinagar (NVI): The Cyber Cell of J&K police today cautioned people in the Valley for “one-ring phone scam” urging the citizens not to return missed calls or to respond to the calls from unknown international numbers.
The scam has entered Kashmir at a time when the Valley is under a tight grip of Covid-19 pandemic that has claimed over 45 lives and infected over 4000 people so far.
The Cyber wing termed it as “global scam, which has got active in Kashmir also.” Talking to NVI, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Cyber Police Cell Kashmir, Tahir Ashraf said that just a day after “one ring phone scam” stepped into Kashmir, they got active and started taking measures to counter the same.
“We have issued an advisory for the people how to deal with the scam,” he said. The advisory issued by the Cyber wing read: “If your phone rings once and then stops. If this happens to you and you don’t recognize the number, do not return the call. You may be target of a one ring phone scam.”
The advisory further reads that one ring call may appear to be from the international number. For countering the scam, the advisory states that “don’t answer or return any calls from number you don’t recognize, report that number as a spam. Before calling unfamiliar number, check to see if the area code is international. Always be cautious, even if a number appears authentic.”
SSP Cyber Cell said that it is a global scam active across the world where scammers engage people for long durations to make easy money. “Since international calls are costly, the scammers engage people and earn money. By engaging people for long durations over phone, they can access bank accounts and steal the money as well as phone numbers are linked with the banks of the people across Kashmir,” he said.
He said if people encounter this issue, they should immediately contact their service providers to ensure that the number is marked as a spam. “People of Kashmir should also follow Twitter handle and Facebook account of Cyber Cell J&K police for regular updates about how one ring scam can be countered effectively,” the police officer said and asked people not to panic and “just follow updates on official accounts of cyber wing’s Twitter and Facebook for dealing with the scammers.”
“We will be updating the ways and means of countering the scammers on our official accounts on social media,” the SSP said.
