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Someone called me to ask whether I have recharged (added money to) my mobile account. He told me that he was calling from the network provider and wanted to assist me with the recharge. Unlike an automated call that I usually get, this was an actual person who was calling, and I had not even contacted their customer care or anything. This left me a bit suspicious and after checking the number later in a website, I found that there were a lot of people who reported that number to be scam.

However, I do not know how someone can scam people by knowing just their mobile phone account details. Is there any scam like this or am I just overreacting?

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    When you say "recharge", do you mean apply more money to your mobile phone payment account? (I would normally associate it with plugging in the phone to fill up the battery, but that can't be what you mean here). What details did you provide to the caller?
    – Vicky
    Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 8:16
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    Best guess is that the almost-certain-scammer – in assisting you with the recharge – would have got you to give him your credit-/debit-card or bank details Or they may have directed you to login to a fake website. Or given you the details of another account to send "top-up" money to (owned by a different victim, but under their control). Recognising it's a scam is generally more important than worrying about the precise mechanics.
    – TripeHound
    Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 10:16
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    It's a straightforward scam.
    – Fattie
    Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 10:50
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    @Vicky In South Asian and some Southeast Asian varieties of English, "recharge" means adding money to a phone payment account. "Recharge" may also be used interchangeably with "top-up".
    – Flux
    Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 14:53
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    @Vicky Yes, I meant applying more money, like top-up. And regarding what information I provided, I provided nothing other than whether I have already done payment or not. Maybe, I shouldn't have told that either, but I don't see what use it can be; and hence the question.
    – Reader Manifold
    Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 16:53

2 Answers 2

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If you mean "recharge" as in add more money to your phone payment account, then this is 100% a scam. For the following reasons:

  1. The phone provider will most likely not call you asking for personal details to apply a payment. Even if they did call to tell you a payment is due, it would either be an automated message that says "your payment is due" or they would call and only have to verify the information they already have on file.
  2. This sounds exactly like scammers calling you and saying they are from "Microsoft" and want to help you renew your Windows subscription. Usually they make you buy some gift cards and send them the numbers.
  3. You looked up the phone number and many people have reported it as spam/scam.

If you want to be sure your phone account is in good standing, look for the main customer service number online and speak to them. Do not call back the number that called you originally.

EDIT: This is from my own experience in the USA. I don't know if providers directly calling customers is more common in India, where the OP is from.

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    OP is from Kerala, India. In South Asian varieties of English, "recharge" means adding money to a phone payment account.
    – Flux
    Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 14:57
  • it's 100% a straightforward, common, well-known scam (in India and elsewhere)
    – Fattie
    Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 15:37
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For clarity, in case this helps someone:

  • It's an extremely well-known, very popular, scam (in India and elsewhere).

It's totally common to get 3 or 4 calls with this particular scam each month.

Completely ignore it.

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    If OP was bored they could spend some time catfishing the caller, to irritate them and limit their call-rate. I remember a co-worker spending a good half-hour convincing a scam-caller that he was a combined computer hardware reseller and laundromat and that his mother in law was recently fired from her position as sandwich board, and toward the end, that his name was Dong, first name, Long. It was hillarious.
    – Criggie
    Commented Oct 9, 2020 at 21:35

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