Call Forwarding Diversion Scam

In a call forwarding diversion scam, an attacker convinces a victim to dial a specific code on their own phone, often disguised as a customer service troubleshooting step, a network upgrade instruction, or a prize verification process, which actually activates unconditional call forwarding to a number the attacker controls. Once active, all incoming calls to the victim's number, including automated voice calls banks use to confirm large transactions or reset account access, are silently redirected to the attacker instead of ringing the victim's phone.

This technique is often combined with a separate phishing step that has already obtained the victim's account login details, since the attacker still needs a way to receive a voice-based verification call to complete an account takeover or authorize a fraudulent transaction. Victims frequently do not notice anything wrong, since their phone continues to work normally for outgoing calls and any calls they do want to answer; only inbound calls the attacker has caused to divert are affected, sometimes leaving the phone showing no missed call log entry at all.

Users should never dial an unfamiliar code provided by an unsolicited caller or text, and should periodically check their phone's call forwarding settings, particularly after receiving any call claiming to be about a network issue, delivery problem, or prize.