Low-cost carrier IndiGo has said that its brand name is being misused by certain people who have managed to extract personal information and confidential bank details of gullible customers under a vishing scam.
In a warning issued after several people approached the airline seeking their money back, IndiGo said, “Please be cautioned that certain people are misusing our brand name ‘IndiGo’, and are claiming to represent IndiGo in order to extract personal information and confidential bank details.”
The advisory explained that neither IndiGo employees nor its agents ask for the credit/debit card number, CVV, net banking login ID, password or any other sensitive information of customers. “Our employees/agents will never ask you to transfer funds to a personal account or to install third-party Apps to view your screen,” the airline said.
Restricted to Bengaluru
Airline officials said the misuse of its brand name appeared to be prima facie restricted to Bengaluru for now, and the exact extent of the vishing scam would only be clear after police investigation. “Someone posed as a customer service representative of the airline and put up numbers on a third party website dealing with consumer complaints. Many contacted this unknown person for bulk booking discounts and even for jobs, since he claimed to provide jobs,” the airline official said.
IndiGo also said that it was working with relevant authorities to take down such fraudulent domains. “We urge all passengers to exercise caution with their personal information and to reach out to us directly for any assistance with their bookings,” the airline said.
Phone call
In a vishing scam, a fraudster pretends to represent a legitimate business (a bank, an airline, etc.) on a phone call. During the phone call, the fraudster attempts to get the customer’s sensitive banking information, which is then used to steal money from the customer’s bank account.
In most cases, officials said vishing was difficult for authorities to trace, particularly when conducted using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). “Like many legitimate customer services, vishing scams are often outsourced to other countries, which may render sovereign law enforcement powerless,” a cybercrime expert said.
