Kannada actor, director and politician Upendra Rao.
Credit: DH File Photo/Srilekha.R
Kannada actor Upendra Rao, popularly known as 'Real Star', said in a post on the 'X' platform that his and his wife's phones have been hacked early this morning on Monday, September 15.
In a post captioned 'beware', Upendra said that his wife Priyanka, first fell victim to the crime. She had ordered a product online and in the morning (Monday, September 15), she received a message from an unknown person to type a code consisting of special characters and letters to get the order delivered.
However, in no time, her phone was hacked. Upendra, too, unknowingly fell for the same trick.
In the video, Upendra has requested fans and other actors, producers, and directors in the film industry not to receive his calls or messages seeking money from his phone number.
Upendra added that he is on his way to the cybercrime police station to file a complaint.
The actor later revealed that the his wife and him, were tricked in to type --' *21*[destination number]# ', which makes the phone to forward all messages to another mobile number. This way, hackers can mimic the victim's number and ask naive acquaitances of the latter to transfer money to their account.
In this scenario, some friends of Upendra and his wife received a message from hackers that the latter were in urgent need of money and requested around Rs 50,000. Even Upendra's son fell for it and transfered the money without calling the parents. Only when he reached home, the actor got to know that his and the wife's number were hacked. Later, he reached out to fans on social media platforms not to send any money, even if the call came from his number.
Smartphone users are advised to be wary while responding to messages on messenger apps and email services, particularly when it is sent by any unknown people.
Never share personal information or any OTP to strangers, even if they claim to be from e-commerce app executive or bank official or even from Income Tax department.
Company never ask for personal details on email or messages. If any doubt with regard to online financial transaction, always head to the near bank branch to get the correct information.
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