Hyderabad police warn of surge in credit card frauds, urge caution

The cyber crimes unit of Hyderabad police has issued a public advisory warning citizens of a rise in credit card–related frauds targeting unsuspecting cardholders through a range of online and telephonic scams.

According to the police, fraudsters are increasingly using phishing links, fake merchant websites, bogus customer-care numbers, credit limit enhancement offers and malicious mobile applications to steal card details and one-time passwords, leading to unauthorised transactions. Scammers also pose as bank or merchant representatives, lure victims with reward-point redemption offers or cashbacks, and in some cases gain access to accounts through SIM swap frauds.

Victims often receive deceptive emails, SMS messages or social media advertisements that redirect them to fake payment pages designed to harvest sensitive information. In other instances, fraudsters persuade cardholders to install remote-access applications or tampered mobile apps that capture confidential data.

The police advised the public not to click on unsolicited links, share OTPs, PINs, CVV numbers or full card details, and to rely only on official bank websites, apps or the customer-care numbers printed on the back of their cards. Citizens have also been urged to install applications only from official app stores, enable transaction alerts and remain cautious of offers that demand immediate action.

In case of suspected fraud, the police have asked citizens to report the matter immediately to the National Cybercrime Helpline at 1930 or through the cybercrime.gov.in portal.