Now, fraudsters target mobile subscribers!

After deceiving people through e-mails about lottery tickets and big prize money, fraudsters are now making calls to several customers.

According to Bharti Airtel, customers are arbitrarily being targeted by callers who pretend to be calling on behalf of the customer's telecom operator. They inform the recipient that he has won a lottery/award conducted by the respective telecom operator.

In such instances, the customer receives a missed call from a number starting with +92. On returning the missed call (with the indicated country code) the unsuspecting customer reaches a fraudster pretending to be representative of Airtel or another mobile operator and informs the customer of having won an operator-sponsored lottery.

The fraudster then attempts to con the customer into divulging sensitive personal information and to pay a "commission" to receive the award. Such commission is usually asked to be paid via DTH recharge vouchers.

Bharti Airtel warns its customers that these are calls from fraudsters with malicious intent and they do not represent the company.

Airtel has issued a general advisory to all mobile/landline users to protect them from such malicious activities. These include:

Avoid responding to suspicious missed calls from unknown numbers, especially those beginning with +92.

Do not respond to any SMS from unknown sources prompting to call on a number.

Refrain from sharing any personal information & identity proofs like voter ID number, PAN number, bank account number, credit card information or make any payment to people promising lottery or other unexpected awards.

Do not disclose your handset IMEI or SIM card number to unknown callers. IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) is a unique code given by handset manufacturer for your number. This can be obtained by pressing *#06#.

In case of suspicious calls, report the same to the security authorities concerned or the service provider.