Hyderabad: The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) has registered a case against three telemarketing companies for allegedly misusing the authorised SMS identities of two SEBI-registered financial firms to send fraudulent messages containing malicious links. TGCSB has received a complaint from ValueFirst Digital Media, a messaging services provider, alleging that two of its clients — K Technologies and N Finvest — were affected by the unauthorised and illegal activities of three telemarketing companies.According to the complainant, in the first instance, a fake SMS containing a malicious link was sent to a mobile number using the client’s SMS header on July 9 and July 30, prompting the telecom service provider to blacklist the header. “The messages containing malicious links did not pass through our platform. Delivery records point to another company, which is not among our client’s five authorised telemarketers,” the complainant alleged.In the second instance, a fraudulent message mimicking the second client’s authorised header was delivered to a mobile number on Aug 3, following which the header was blacklisted by the service provider. At the complainant’s request, the service provider later provided details of the message delivery chain, which included the names of the accused companies.The complainant alleged that two of the three accused companies share the same registered address in Noida. “The accused companies had exploited the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) system, which regulates commercial SMSes, so that the messages appeared to come from a legitimate chain,” a TGCSB official said, quoting the complaint.The complainant also alleged that “the repeated blacklisting of the clients’ headers by service providers disrupted genuine OTPs and transactional alerts to investors.” Based on the complaint, TGCSB police registered a case against three telemarketing companies under sections 318(4) (cheating) and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the BNS and Sections 43, 66, 66C and 66D of the IT Act on Friday. “We will seek details of the fraudulent activities from the complainant and other concerned entities to identify the accused,” said a TGCSB investigator.
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