Cyber crimes, including the Call Forwarding Scam, are on the rise. Many people have already fallen victim to this scam. In response, the Ministry of Telecom (Department of Telecom) has taken action and issued directives to telecom companies.
USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) codes, such as *401#, are often used for call forwarding services as well as to retrieve IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) numbers and other balance details. However, the Ministry has discovered that these services are being misused.
To prevent further misuse, telecom companies have been ordered to temporarily stop USSD-based call forwarding services from April 15 until further notice. Users who have activated these services will be informed, and those who still require them can activate them through other means.
This decision was made to combat the increasing number of cybercriminals who are posing as customer care staff or technical service personnel and committing scams. These criminals are asking users to dial *401# to solve their problems, which results in the call forwarding service being activated without their knowledge. The Department of Telecom is also identifying other issues and taking necessary actions to address them.