Got a call for upgrading to 5G SIM? STOP, Beware of this new scam in India

Scammers are targeting users to leaking personal data from upgrading from 4G SIM to a 5G SIM.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Nov 30 2022, 14:15 IST

Top 5 Samsung phones under 15000: Galaxy A13, Galaxy F23 5G, and more

1/5 Samsung Galaxy A13: The 4GB RAM and 128GB Variant of the phone in Blue is available at a discount of 24 percent on Flipkart for Rs. 14999. Meanwhile if you have an old smartphone to exchange, you can further get an off by up to Rs. 14150 on the smartphone. Flipkart is also offering bank offers on the phone including- 5 percent cashback on Flipkart Axis Bank Card, and Rs. 1000 off On ICICI bank Credit Card Non EMI, Credit and Debit Card EMI Transactions. (Samsung)

image caption — 2/5 Samsung Galaxy F42 5G: With a discount of 42 percent, the 8GB RAM and 128GB storage variant of Samsung Galaxy F42 5G in Matte Aqua color can be purchased on Flipkart for Rs. 14999. The price of the device can further be brought down via the exchange offer On exchange you can get up to Rs. 14150 off further. Flipkart is also offering several bank offers on the phone. (Samsung)

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5/5 Samsung Galaxy F23 5G: With a discount of 39 percent, the 6GB RAM and 128GB variant of the Samsung Galaxy F23 5G in Aqua Blue is available for Rs. 14499 on Flipkart. Also, if you have an old smartphone to exchange, you can get further off of up to Rs. 13600 on the phone. Bank offers too can be availed if you have the bank's card on which the offer is being provided. (HT Tech)

A new scam to upgrade 4G customers to 5G SIM cards is on the rise. (PTI)

5G is all the rage these days among smartphone companies and even if you don't want, operators will urge you to try 5G services at all cost. Unlike the transition from 3G to 4G that required a SIM card upgrade, operators such as Jio and Airtel have assured that there is minimal barrier in this transition. Sadly, not all customers know of this yet and scammers are making the most out of this lack of knowledge.

Based on the latest report from cybersecurity research firm Checkpoint, it is said that scammers are now calling users across India in a bid to upgrade their “4G SIM cards to 5G SIM cards”. It is said that the scammers call themselves telecom Customer Care Executives and they push users to “upgrade their 4G SIM cards”. Through this, they are able to leak all the personal information.

Upgrade to 5G scam in India!

In the process, the scammer asks for some key information from the users and once the victim is lured into giving it out, they obtain all the information. The scam is widely going on and police departments from any states have reported about the same. For example, Mumbai Police has made a tweet about the same. Similar tweets have also been made by the police from Pune, Gurugram and Hyderabad.

Some cases have also reported the scammers to ask for money for the upgrade to 5G SIM card.

Scammers are also resorting to SMS phishing, wherein they are sending SMS messages with dubious links. Once users click on this link and share all the necessary information for upgrading their SIM card, all their crucial information goes out and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

How to stay safe

- First and foremost, you should never share any kind of information with anyone, especially bank details and passwords.

- You should never share any kind of login OTP with anyone unknown on the phone.

- There is NO upgrade scheme for SIM cards to go to 5G. Do not fall for a 4G SIM to 5G SIM upgrade scheme. Your 4G SIM card can fetch you 5G services by default.

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