As scammers increasingly use AI-generated voices, fake KYC alerts, and caller ID spoofing, distinguishing between a genuine caller and a fraudster is becoming harder than ever. With India now among the world’s most spam call-affected countries, cyber experts warn that awareness and caution are the strongest defences against evolving phone scams. This edition of The Safe Side digs deeper into spam calls that turn into scams. It can begin with an ordinary phone call. A student rushing to class ignores a call marked “loan offer”, while a retired government employee might answer a call from someone claiming to be from a bank’s KYC department. A simple conversation of a few minutes can lead to the caller asking for an OTP “to verify the account”. By the time the victim realises something is wrong, the hard-earned money has already been withdrawn. Such incidents are slowly becoming common as “spam calls” evolve from mere telemarketing nuisances into sophisticated fraud attempts.…