In a recent move to rise related to rising call-related scams, the Indian government has mandated that all official calls from banks will now start with the prefix ‘160’. This significant change has been designed to help citizens identify genuine calls from banks and financial institutions- without any need for a caller ID tracking application. Once a person is aware of the unknown caller as a fake, it will make the scammer's life harder to impersonate any trusted sources.
All Bank calls in India start from 160: A new standard for Bank calls
To combat the growing wave of fake and fraud calls impersonating police officials, bank officials or more, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in partnership with major banks, have come up with the rule of prefixing 160.
Any call received from a bank or financial institution will begin with the three-digit prefix 160. This will apply across the country and will further aim at providing a uniform and secure system for financial calls, by making it easier for customers to recognize real communication from their banks.
Why this change was needed?
We all have been reading, listening and watching news related to deepfake videos, fake drug scams, urgent money transfer calls, sex racket scam calls, and more- which is certainly a spike and it is majorly using the database targeting the bank customers. The scammers are claiming with confidence that the victim has been involved in some phishing scams, fraudsters posing as bank representatives and tricks to steal sensitive information.
The introduction of the ‘160’ prefix is expected to be a game-changer, helping customers easily differentiate between legitimate bank calls and potential scams.
How to use this feature for safety?
If you receive a call that claims to be from your bank but it does not start with ‘160’, it is likely to be a scam (and you will know it now). To protect yourself:
- Hang up immediately if the caller asks for sensitive information.
- Report the call to your bank or the national cybercrime portal.
- Do not share OTPs, PINs, or account details over the phone.
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