AcrossView
Guide

Spot and stop remote-access scams

Thousands of people in India lose money every month to a phone call that ends with "install this app and read me the number". Here is how the trick works, how to recognise it in the first minute, and what AcrossView does so its own pages are not useful to the people who run it.

How the call goes

  1. A call or WhatsApp message from "the bank", "the electricity board", "a courier", "customer care", or "the police". There is a problem: your KYC is expiring, your electricity will be cut tonight, a parcel is held, a refund is waiting.
  2. They are helpful and in a hurry. To fix it they need to "verify" something on your phone or computer.
  3. They ask you to install an app, usually AnyDesk, TeamViewer or a screen-sharing app, and read them the number it shows. Sometimes they send a link instead.
  4. Now they see your screen. They ask you to open your bank app or UPI to "check", and read the OTP that arrives. Money leaves.

The one rule

Only share your screen or install an app for someone you called for help. No bank, police station, courier, electricity board, telecom company or government office will ever ask you to install an app or share your screen. If someone who called you asks, hang up. Call the organisation back on the number printed on your card or bill.

Signs it is a scam

  • They called you, not the other way round.
  • Urgency: tonight, in ten minutes, before the system closes.
  • They want an app installed, a screen shared, or a code read out.
  • They ask you to open a bank, UPI or wallet app while they watch.
  • They tell you not to tell anyone, or to stay on the line.

What AcrossView does about it

  • Before every session, the page that shares a screen shows a warning in Hindi and English: "Only do this if you asked this person for help. No bank, police, CBI, courier company or electricity board will ever ask you to share your screen." It names the 1930 helpline.
  • Nothing happens until the person presses Allow after a short countdown, and the helper's name is shown first.
  • The person can end the session with one button at any time, and the browser shows that sharing is on.
  • From a browser, nobody can control the mouse or keyboard. Control needs the Windows app and the person switching it on.
  • We keep connection records and give them to the police when the law requires. Accounts used for fraud are closed; see acceptable use.

If it already happened

  1. Hang up. End the session. Turn off the computer's internet or switch off the phone.
  2. Call 1930, the national cyber-crime helpline, at once; the sooner the call, the better the chance of freezing the money. Or report at cybercrime.gov.in.
  3. Call your bank's own number and block the cards and UPI.
  4. Uninstall whatever app you were made to install, and change the passwords you typed while they watched.

यह जानकारी हिन्दी में: सुरक्षित रहें.