‘SBI official’ cons sr citizen couple

A man posed as a State Bank of India official to cheat a senior citizen couple of Rs40,000. The couple, however, was quick to react and froze their accounts before more money could be withdrawn.

The police investigating the case said the man who cheated them not only knew the couple had an account with the bank, but also that they had recently lost a credit card and had just got a new one.

On April 21, around 11.30am, the complainant, a 71-year-old man got a phone call.

The man on the other end told the senior citizen that he was calling from the SBI headquarters. The cyber criminal verified with the complainant if he had lost his card and whether a new one had been issued. He told the complainant he will need a few details to “activate” the card.

The complainant called his wife, who gave him the card details and the one time password. In nine minutes, the couple got two messages that money was being withdrawn from their account.

The 71-year-old was quick to respond and called the bank to block the transactions.

The criminal’s third transaction did not go through.

A police official said this was the most common way cyber criminals use to con card holders.

“You do not need to activate a credit or debit card. The bank never asks for such details. If you receive such a phone call, report it to the local police.”