Top News

Call Forwarding Scam: Beware! Don't ignore this SMS, if you receive it, dial the secret code immediately

newscrab | June 23, 2026 8:39 AM CST

Call Forwarding Alert Message: The government has urged people to be cautious about certain types of SMS. If call forwarding is activated on your number, you will receive a message immediately. If you receive the message, call ##002# immediately. Otherwise, your account could be emptied.

Don't ignore the call forwarding message on your phone.

Stop Call Forwarding Scam: Nowadays, most work is done online, and people don't pay as much attention to SMS messages as they used to. However, the I4C (Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has advised to be cautious about a specific type of SMS on X. According to a post by Cyber Dost I4C, if you receive an alert SMS immediately after call forwarding is activated on your number, don't ignore this SMS at all.

Indeed, if call forwarding is activated on your number without your permission and you ignore the alert SMS, your bank account could be emptied. In recent times, several cases of call forwarding have been reported in which online fraudsters have emptied people's bank accounts.

If you receive this message on your phone, you should immediately call the designated number to stop call forwarding.

Method of online fraud

In fact, online fraudsters can change the number linked to your bank account etc. by turning on the call forwarding service on your number or can receive the OTP coming through a phone call.
Once the call forwarding service is turned on on your number, the fraudsters try to log in to your bank account, UPI or social media accounts and select the option of Forgot Password or Login via OTP.
This is the reason why in many cases call forwarding was started on the target number before online fraud.

Which SMS should you pay attention to?

Cyber Dost I4C account on X has shared a special SMS with an alert, which is advised not to be ignored.

This message comes on someone's phone when call forwarding service is started on the number.

Call forwarding means that calls coming to your number will be diverted to some other number instead of reaching your number.

In this message, you will see clearly written that call forwarding service has been started on your number and calls will now be diverted to some other number.

What to do if you get a message?

If call forwarding is activated on your phone without your request, you'll immediately receive an SMS informing you of this. In this case, you'll need to follow a few steps immediately.
First, dial ##002# . This code will instantly disable all call forwarding enabled on your number.
Keep in mind that do not dial any secret code like *21* or *401* from your phone on anyone's request.

PC: NBT