Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) is one of India’s biggest (and most lucrative) game shows. The show, which is now in its 10th season, still dominates TRPs.
But it has now emerged that scamsters are trying to lure people with prize money they have ‘won’ in an attempt to dupe them of their own hard-earned money.
Fraudsters call gullible people posing as ‘KBC representatives’ telling them that they have won a prize by participating in the quiz that features on the show.
The current season of KBC has a Play-Along feature in which viewers can participate and win cash prizes.
The smart scamsters tell suspecting persons that their number has been shortlisted by their telecom operator from a series.
Scamsters then ask the people to deposit a small amount of money, which is far less than the ‘winning’ amount, through a bank draft. They say that the amount being charged is processing fee.
Not only that, scamsters also ask for confidential information related to the bank account of the person they are targeting claiming that it is required for direct money transfer.
According to reports, the scam calls come from numbers with ISD prefix 0092. The prefix is Pakistan’s international direct dialling code.
The number has often been flagged by mobile phone operators in the past who have warned customers of fraudulent calls being made from numbers with 0092 (or +92) as prefix.
A man from Bengaluru had in January this year lost over Rs 1 lakh to the KBC scam.
In September this year the Mumbai Police had tweeted in response to a man who got a similar fake call telling him not to share details and visit the nearest police station.
Please do not share any sensitive details over a call and visit the nearest police station for further support.
— Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) September 12, 2018