Nithin Kamath warns against new scam that could drain your bank accounts

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Zerodha co-founder and CEO Nithin Kamath recently took to social media to warn users against a new scam which could potentially drain bank accounts. He shared a video produced by Zerodha explaining how scammers operate, who they target and how people can protect themselves from such scams. "Imagine this: A stranger approaches you and asks to use your phone to make an emergency call. Most well-meaning people would probably hand over their phone. But this is a new scam," the billionaire warned. "From intercepting your OTPs to draining your bank accounts, scammers can cause serious damage without you even realizing it," he added. 


The video shared by Mr Kamath further explained how a scammer, while pretending to use your phone, can download new apps or open existing ones to download personal information or change your phone's settings so that your calls and messages are forwarded to their numbers, including alerts from your banks. With this information, the scammers can access your bank account, and OTPs and make unauthorised transactions, and can also change your passwords. So, to protect yourself from such scams, the video recommends not handing your phone over to strangers. But in case people approach you with such requests, offer to dial the number for them and put the phone on speaker.

Watch the video below: 

Imagine this: A stranger approaches you and asks to use your phone to make an emergency call. Most well-meaning people would probably hand over their phone. But this is a new scam.

From intercepting your OTPs to draining your bank accounts, scammers can cause serious damage… pic.twitter.com/3OdLdmDWe5
— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) January 15, 2025



Since being shared, Mr Kamath's post has accumulated more than 450,000 views. Reacting to the video, one user wrote, "You won't see anything unusual happening. No obvious signs of tampering, which is what makes it so dangerous... You won't realise what's happening until it's too late." 


"Thanks for pointing out ... but this is sad. Already a low trust society .. this makes things even worse," commented another. 

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A user also urged Nithin Kamath to translate the video in several Indian languages to maximise its impact, as most of the scammers will probably use a local language to communicate with their target.


Another wrote, "Maybe to remain well meaning and a good some samaritan, we can offer to dial the number ourselves  and keeping the phone on speaker without handing over the phone." 


"The better thing to do is you can dial the number and let them talk on speaker," suggested one user.