Fraudsters have turned the simple USSD command *#62# into supposed proof that a victim's phone is under surveillance, using the trick to steal large sums of cash.
The scheme starts with a familiar social-engineering pretext: a request to replace a doorphone, receive a parcel, or accept a gift. The caller asks the target to dictate a verification code that has just been sent by SMS. According to T-Bank, the attackers themselves send this code, creating an excuse to escalate the conversation.
Next, a caller posing as a government employee claims the victim's online banking account has been breached and that a power of attorney has been issued in the name of an extremist. The victim is directed to a counterfeit government website for "diagnostics" and instructed to dial *#62#.
The command displays the phone's call-forwarding settings that apply when the device is unreachable. Any number shown usually belongs to voicemail or the operator's "missed calls" service. The fraudsters nevertheless declare it to be the number of an interceptor and pressure the victim to close accounts, take out loans, and hand cash to a courier for deposit into a "safe" account.
T-Bank emphasises that the combination offers no evidence of eavesdropping and is comparable to claiming a courier's bag is a bank vault. The bank advises anyone who receives such a call to end the conversation immediately and contact the organisation only through verified official numbers.
