SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Police have issued an advisory cautioning the public against a fraudulent scheme involving automated silent calls, which are allegedly being used by cybercriminals to identify active mobile numbers for future scams.
According to the advisory, fraudsters deploy automated systems to place large volumes of calls. If a recipient answers the call, particularly by responding with “Hello”, the number may be flagged as active and potentially added to lists used for subsequent fraudulent activities.
Police said such calls are often disconnected immediately after the recipient responds, making it difficult for users to identify the intent behind them. However, the active number may later be targeted through other scam attempts.
The advisory urges citizens not to engage with silent or suspicious calls from unknown numbers and to disconnect them promptly.
Members of the public have also been advised to block numbers associated with repeated unsolicited calls and exercise caution when receiving calls from unfamiliar sources.
Police further appealed to citizens to report suspicious numbers through the “Check & Report” feature available on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), helping authorities track and curb cyber fraud.
