Fake call alert: This new app lets cybercriminals generate international phone numbers to con people

Many cybercriminals in Bengaluru and across the country are using apps that generate international phone numbers to con people. The worst part: the numbers are difficult to track.

One receiver of such a call complained to the cybercrime police station in the city recently that he got calls from two different numbers. While one call had the country code 001, indicating a USA number, another had 0063, the country code of Philippines.

An official from the cybercrime police said, “Criminals get these numbers via calling apps available at app stores. There are many such apps, like Dingtone, and the user can select a code from multiple countries. The problem is we cannot track these numbers.”


Dingtone, a US-based firm, did not respond to ET’s questions.

The apps provide users the option to get a local number in a foreign country and make international calls. However, there have been many recent cases of such apps being used to defraud people. The cybercrime police official said such cases are being registered, although he did not have the number of such cases as they are not classified under a separate category.



KS Santosh, founder of cybersecurity solutions group Cyber ID, estimated that at least 40-50 such cases occur in Bengaluru every day. In India, he estimated about 500 cases per day. As many as 50-60 such apps are available on Google Play store and Apple App Store, he said. Santosh, who assists the cybercrime police, said though it is possible to track down the user of an app, the police lacked both the know-how and the technology to do it. Regarding whether the apps could be removed from the stores, he said, “There are jurisdictional issues. Almost all such apps are not developed by Indian firms but are from countries that have stringent laws on removal of apps. Those countries will refuse to remove them as the apps also have legitimate purposes,” he said.

Advocate Mirza Faizan Assad, who has taken up cybercrime cases, said it was possible to track callers using such apps. “All such services are also linked to telecom service providers and from these service providers, information of the caller can be obtained,” he said.

Cybercrime consultant and information security professional Mukesh Chaudhary said the process of tracking such numbers was simple, but time-consuming. He said by tracking back the call to the service provider and from then to the caller, the caller’s details could be obtained. However, to request details of the caller from any service provider abroad, CBI needs to have a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with that country. Currently, such treaties exist with only 39 countries. “And even if such a treaty exists, in some countries, the procedure to be followed takes 6-18 months. Some countries also ask for a court order,” he said.