Watch out: Delivery scam uses call forwarding to steal your money
A new scam flagged by the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal involves fraudsters posing as delivery agents and asking you to dial certain USSD codes.
Once you do, your calls—including bank OTPs and verification calls—get forwarded straight to them.
Victims usually only find out after losing money or getting locked out of their apps, since there are no alerts or warnings.
How it works—and how to stay safe
Scammers get you to dial codes like 21 plus their number, which secretly turns on call forwarding without needing internet.
This lets them intercept OTPs and authentication calls, enabling them to hijack accounts like WhatsApp or Telegram.
To protect yourself, never dial USSD codes starting with 21, 61, or 67 from unknown sources.
You can turn off all forwarding by dialing ##002#, or check if it's active with *#21#.
If you think you've been scammed, act fast—call 1930 or report it at cybercrime.gov.in right away.